It’s a “big” week for agriculture in Washington, with key actions likely to have an impact on producers’ bottom-line.
The U.S. Senate is expected to take a “make-or-break” vote Thursday or Friday on the GOP’s tax plan, that Republicans will have to pass with a likely razor-thin, Republican-only majority. The GOP is edging closer to the needed votes, and President Trump is meeting today (Tuesday) with senators.
American Farm Bureau tax adviser Pat Wolff says both bills impact producers’ pocketbooks.
Thirty percent of income would be taxed at a new, lower, 25 percent rate.
Meanwhile, both bills boost the exemption for small business expenses, known as “Section 179.”
Separately, the EPA is expected to issue by Thursday’s statutory deadline, renewable fuel volumes for next year, on the heels of a “David vs. Goliath” win by ethanol over “big oil,” reversing an EPA extra rollback of some volumes. Renewable Fuels Association chief Bob Dinneen talks about the EPA action.
But it took weeks of letter writing, phone calls, meetings, and even an angry floor speech by one senator to get the president to order his EPA chief to reverse course. The EPA last week also nixed an oil industry-requested compliance change to shift ethanol-use reporting from refiners and imports to blenders.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.