Farmers and ranchers need tax laws that protect their family businesses," AFBF President Bob Stallman said in a statement after the House passed the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015 on Thursday. "With House passage of the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015, we are one step closer to tax reform that will help farm families invest in the future and pass their businesses on to the next generation," Stallman continued.

 

Further, "We need tax policies that help capital-intensive businesses like farms and ranches, and that don't stand in the way of sons and daughters ready to follow the agricultural legacy of their parents," he said.

The American Farm Bureau Federation on Thursday asked Congress to pass legislation ordering the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to withdraw the controversial "Waters of the United States" proposal. In a letter copied to all members of Congress, AFBF President Bob Stallman wrote that the Regulatory Integrity Protection Act of 2015 represents an opportunity for Congress to take "the first important step toward resolving this issue fairly." The bill was approved this week by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, chaired by Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.)

 

If the legislation does not pass and EPA moves forward with a final rule, the likeliest result would be landowners "being forced to engage in expensive litigation to protect their rights."

 

AFBF news release

A number of House committee chairmen have asked Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy for documents to confirm whether or not the Agriculture Department has done any quantitative analysis on how the proposed "waters of the United States" rule would affect farmers, ranchers and farm programs. The chairmen fear the rule could ultimately lead to the unlawful expansion of federal jurisdiction, resulting in significant costs for routine farming, ranching and forestry practices. Among other things, the rule would expand federal control over land features such as ditches and areas of agricultural land that are wet only during storms.

 

"The committees are interested in ensuring that in the course of promulgating the definition of 'waters of the United States,' [agriculture and forestry] stakeholder voices are being heard and taken into consideration. Congress is obligated to ensure the integrity and transparency of the rulemaking process. The American people, including farmers and ranchers, have a right to be assured their voices are being heard by the administration," wrote House Agriculture Committee Chairman Michael Conaway (R-Texas), House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), and House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas).

 

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