Congress may make another attempt to reform the chapter 12 bankruptcy law to allow more financially distressed family farmers to restructure debts and remain in operation, CNBC.com reported. Congress has made several changes to the Bankruptcy Code over the years but experts suggest the average size of family farms has grown and the debt caps on chapter 12 have not kept up with the times. In December, Sens. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) introduced a measure to help financially struggling family farmers by proposing to increase the bankruptcy debt limits allowed in chapter 12 filings to $10 million from roughly $4.1 million. The measure didn’t pass, but a spokesperson for Klobuchar, a 2020 presidential candidate, told CNBC yesterday that she plans to reintroduce the bill. Similarly, Grassley was quoted last week as promising to “push ahead with reforms to chapter 12 protection for family farmers that I have been developing as former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.”
