Kansas Farm Bureau leaders learn about process during Washington visit
It didn’t appear Tuesday, March 20, as a Kansas Farm Bureau delegation visited lawmakers in Washington, that a Section 199A fix would make the omnibus bill markup.
Local Congressional leaders told a Kansas Farm Bureau delegation that they hadn’t seen language yet for 199A in the bill.
Yet despite doubts, a fix did make the legislation as Congress worked Wednesday as much of the city shut down for a snowstorm.
“This legislation restores the competitive balance in the agricultural marketplace by leveling the tax burden on independent and cooperative farming businesses,” said Sen. Jerry Moran Thursday. “In Kansas, where grain continues to pile up on the ground, the success of our economy can be directly impacted by how our farmers sell and trade grain. The change will provide tax benefits to farmers as intended under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.”
Congress worked to finalize a funding bill this week as the March 23 deadline to prevent another government shutdown neared. The House passed a $1.3 trillion spending bill Thursday.
The Senate passed their legislation in the early hours of Friday morning, which will keep the government funded through the end of September and sends the legislation to the President Donald Trump for his signature before the midnight deadline.
During a March 20 visit at the Capital, Moran told the Farm Bureau delegation, who spent March 19 to 21 addressing agricultural issues with lawmakers, that he didn’t expect a shutdown to happen, noting the consequences both parties have seen in the past regarding a shutdown.
The omnibus bill fixes the 199A deduction in the tax law that—if changes weren’t made—would have allowed farmers and ranchers to claim a 20 percent deduction on all payments received on sales to cooperatives. For example, if a farmer sold $100,000 in grain to a cooperative, he or she could have claimed a $20,000 deduction on business income.
The fix restores the competitive landscape of the marketplace, Moran said.
Organizations such as the National Grain and Feed Association and the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives support language changes, staffers told the KFB delegation.
The future of ELD
Meanwhile, lawmakers told the KFB delegation they were confident there would be a six-month extension for livestock haulers in the omnibus regarding the electronic logging device mandate.
They were right. Language in the bill delays implementation through September.
The ag industry was given a temporary reprieve from the mandate in late December.
Moran said he is seeking a five-year delay for implementation of ELD.
Also part of the bill, according to Moran’s office:
- A bipartisan FCC reauthorization that supports rural broadband expansion and dedicates federal support to those impacted by the FCC’s recent spectrum “repack”;
- Additional funding toward the future of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility at K-State, ensuring completion of construction under DHS control and supporting a smooth transition with the potential transfer of NBAF from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Amy Bickel can be reached at [email protected] or 620-860-9433.
