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199A fix makes it into the omnibus
Story Date: 3/23/2018
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Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 3/22/18
Large swaths of the agriculture sector are breathing a sigh of relief after lawmakers included a 199A fix in the omnibus spending bill, which Congress must pass by the end of the week to avoid a government shutdown.
The language aims to remedy one of the unintended consequences of the Republican tax law, which gave farmers lucrative incentives to sell their products to agricultural cooperatives over other types of businesses.
Various sectors affected: While the problem had been dubbed the "grain glitch," it also threatened to disrupt other markets like dairy, livestock and biofuels. POLITICO first reported Wednesday that the fix was going to be included in the sweeping spending bill.
Getting the language into the omnibus was among a host of sticking points that congressional leaders had to work out in the final hours of negotiations after Democrats demanded a compromise that would boost the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit in exchange.
Cole Staudt, spokesman for Rep. David Young, told MA that the Iowa Republican also organized a coalition of at least 20 House Republicans on the floor early this week to push leadership to include the Section 199A fix in the omnibus, and dozens more signed onto a letter addressed to House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
A critic of the fix: The many industry groups and lawmakers who have backed the proposed fix to Section 199A say it would restore balance in the marketplace. But the National Farmers Union on Wednesday urged Congress to reject the proposal, arguing that it would tip the scale in favor of corporations that already had their tax rate slashed from 35 to 21 percent.
Omni ignores Trump's budget: As expected, the spending package Congress unveiled largely ignores President Donald Trump's call for billions in cuts to discretionary funding for USDA and FDA programs. Instead, the bill would fund those programs at $2.4 billion above fiscal 2017 levels.
Research at USDA would get slightly less than last year. America's flagship food aid program, Food for Peace, would get extra funding for a total of $1.7 billion - bucking Trump's call for eliminating it.
Broadband bump: The spending deal would also give an additional $600 million to USDA to launch a loan-and-grant program for deploying broadband in rural America, which the White House requested as part of a longer list of recommendations sent to Congress last month.
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