Bill orders USDA to create online forms for farmers

The House Agriculture Committee voted Wednesday to approve legislation that would let farmers file their required federal paperwork electronically.

Dubbed the Freedom to E-File Act (H.R. 852), the bill passed by voice vote.

The bill requires the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a user-friendly electronic filing and retrieval system, which would allow farmers to download all required forms from the Internet and submit completed and modified forms. Under the measure the system must be fully operational within two years, allowing farmers to retrieve and file all relevant forms with certain USDA agencies.

The bill also would allow the interested public to have access to information on farm programs, quarterly trade, economic and production reports and other similar information. This program would be available within 180 days of the bill's enactment.

The changes approved in subcommittee included setting a ceiling for funds authorized for the program at $3 million for fiscal year 2001 and $2 million in subsequent years. Another change identified the agencies that would be affected by the bill as: the Farm Service Agency; the Risk Management Agency; the Natural Resources Conservation Service; and some Rural Development agencies.

"This is an opportunity for us to really move agriculture into the 21st century," said Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill., a committee member and author of the bill.