Senate Finance Panel Approves Agriculture Tax Measures
News Date October 09, 2007
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) last week led the panel in a 17 to 4 vote approving the “Heartland, Habitat, Harvest, and Horticulture Act of 2007.” The fully-offset “4-H Bill”--totaling almost $16 billion--will create a trust fund to help ranchers and farmers hurt by crop and livestock losses, convert a number of conservation payment programs into fully-offset tax credit programs, and offer additional incentives for rural economic development and energy-related tax relief to aid agricultural producers. Creating the disaster assistance trust fund and converting payment programs to tax credits will free up previously obligated spending funds for the Agriculture Committee to use elsewhere in farm bill spending.
“This disaster assistance, tax relief, and timely energy incentives will provide a much needed boost to American agriculture and greater security to our hardworking agricultural producers,” said Baucus. “Whether it’s getting a few more dollars in their pockets, rewarding their conservation of American lands, or making sure that one disaster won’t force them to sell the family farm, this package is good for producers in my home state of Montana and across the country.”
A summary of the package, noting provisions changed to the original Chairman’s mark can be located at http://finance.senate.gov/press/Bpress/2007press/prb100407a.pdf . A description of amendments approved at the markup –including the Baucus amendment providing the bulk of the bill’s offset through codification of economic substance, and approximately $1 billion in additional paid-for provisions proposed by Finance Committee members--is also described on the committee’s website.
Among the highlights is a Permanent Agricultural Disaster Assistance Trust Fund. Currently, farmers and ranchers may have to wait years to receive assistance from Congress for agricultural disasters. Farmers and ranchers need to know that when weather related disasters strike, a dependable safety net exists. The proposal creates a trust fund for disaster relief that would cover the “shallow losses” not covered by crop insurance. The proposal requires farmers and ranchers to purchase crop insurance in order to be eligible for disaster assistance. The trust fund will be funded through allocation of tariffs. Cost of the provision in the modification to the Chairman’s mark is $5.1 billion over five and ten years.
In addition, a new program is included in which USDA will conduct early pest detection and surveillance activities in coordination with state departments of agriculture, will prioritize and create action plans to address pest and disease threats to specialty crops, and will create an audit based certification approach to protect against the spread of plant pests which could cause crop losses.
News reports indicate that the next step in the Senate farm bill process is the Senate Agriculture Committee’s mark up scheduled for October 23. (Contact: Jennifer Yezak)