By Jared Edgerton, Contributing Writer

Both Pennsylvania Senators have signaled their willingness to scrap federal subsidies for the production of ethanol.

Yesterday, Pat Toomey threw his support behind an amendment proposed by Republican Senator Tom Corburn (R-OK) and Democratic Senator Dianne Fienstein (D-CA) that would eliminate $6 billion federal dollars currently spent on subsidies.

Toomey explained his support for the legislation in a newsletter saying, “by artificially picking winners and losers, ethanol subsidies are another example of government overreach and excess. They unfairly drive up the cost of corn at a time when many families, farmers and small businesses are struggling to make ends meet. I am pleased to support this bipartisan legislation which is good for taxpayers and an important step forward for more sensible farm policies.”

And this afternoon Senator Bob Casey Jr. joined his colleague issuing a press release saying,  “Government spending and waste must be cut and ethanol tax reform is a good place to start.  The Ethanol Tax Reform and Deficit Reduction Plan introduced by Senators Klobuchar (D-MN) and Thune (R-SD) is bipartisan legislation that would end the existing subsidy for ethanol within a month and use the savings to reduce the deficit and to invest in more diversified renewable fuel production.  The existing subsidy is costly and in the current fiscal environment something we can no longer afford.  While I believe it is important to support the next generation of biofuels, this expensive subsidy simply isn’t getting us enough bang for the buck.”

In the past Casey, who sits on the Committee for Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, has supported research for ethanol as a means to promote biofuels, but recent momentum to make large budget cuts most likely contributed to his change of mind.

A few weeks ago the proposal to eliminate agricultural subsidies appeared to be shelved after Grover Norquist, head of Americans for Taxpayer Reform, called it a violation of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, saying that if any of the 41 Senators who signed the pledge supported the repeal, it would be a violation of their promise; but an amendment proposed by Republican Senator Jim DeMint (South Carolina) has given new life to the debate by offering to link the repeal of agricultural subsidies with eliminating the estate tax. Norquist sided with DeMint, agreeing that was the only acceptable alternative.

Toomey addressed this point in his newsletter stating “ideally, Congress should also support a more comprehensive approach like the legislation sponsored by Sen. DeMint which eliminates the government mandate guaranteeing a market for ethanol and eliminates the death tax, both of which create unnecessary burdens on many of our nation’s farmers and small business owners. It’s my hope that I will have an opportunity to vote on Sen. DeMint’s legislation as well.”

Although Toomey is inclined to side with DeMint it looks like he will vote to eliminate the subsidy today even if the provision to eliminate the estate tax is not adopted.

Support for eliminating the subsidy was received well from Pennsylvanians. Jim Herr, chief executive officer and chairman of Herr’s Food Inc in Lancaster, applauded Senator Toomey “for standing up for these jobs and our company.”

Sergei Szortyka, president of Quaker Maid Meats in Reading, commended the move to repeal the subsidy stating that, “raw material costs at our facility in Berks County have risen 39 percent, and that entire increase I can attribute to the feed costs of the cattle which in turn is directly related to the ethanol subsidies. Ethanol subsidies are putting severe constraints on our ability to expand and hire. It is time for this misguided policy to end.”

Corburn is poised to force a vote on eliminating subsidies for corn and tariffs on ethanol today.