As Disagreement Clouds Infrastructure Debate, Can Bill Pass?

WASHINGTON, DC – Since members of the Democratic party have been unable to agree on the levels of future spending by the federal government, there’s been no real action on either a Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill – which passed the Senate last month – or the budget reconciliation bill (or Build Back Better proposal) that the leadership has touted as human infrastructure.

In the House, progressive (or liberal) Democrats have held the infrastructure bill hostage to guarantee the passage of the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package, while in the Senate, two moderate Democrats have held up consideration of the progressive bill to guarantee passage of the bipartisan package.

This showdown has put the President in a precarious situation as he plans to travel in the next week on both the campaign trail and internationally for a G20 meeting.

Unless there’s some form of agreement within the party, the wheels could fall off in early December when another extension of funding will be needed for the country to continue to conduct business.

For agriculture, all eyes have been on climate proposals – also known as the Green New Deal – and tax provisions that could eliminate stepped-up basis in accounting, which allows most farms, ranches, and small businesses to transition from one generation to the next avoiding massive tax penalties due to anticipated capital gains.

Mississippi Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith explains that most agricultural entities are “asset rich and cash poor”. The Senate Ag Committee member has warned that the elimination of stepped-up basis in agriculture would be devastating for the entire ag industry nationwide.

“Instead of just affecting 2 percent of farm operations, the USDA Economic Research Service analysis indicates that 17 percent of small farms, 66 percent of midsized farms, 80 percent of large farms, and 96 percent of very large farm operations would have a new tax burden with the elimination of stepped-up basis” explained the first-term Senator and Mississippi cattle producer. “The additional taxable gain on-farm assets across all affected estates averaged $1.8 million per farm family.”
(SOURCE: All Ag News)