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Farm Team Legislative Update
November 9, 2016
Take Action – Complete Farm Bill Survey
We expect congressional hearings on the next Farm Bill to begin early in 2017, and for this reason, we are looking for input to help us prioritize different options to improve the Farm Bill while also recognizing its reduced budget.
Farm Bureau staff is currently serving on a working group with the American Farm Bureau Federation to help determine these priorities. The survey is for informational purposes only and does not replace our regular policy development process. Click here to learn more about how Farm Bureau is approaching this next round of Farm Bill negotiations.
Please feel free to forward the survey to others who may be interested. The deadline to complete the survey is Tuesday, November 15.
September 20, 2016
Take Action – Sign a Letter Expressing Opposition to Estate Tax Rule
A proposed IRS regulation could make it much more difficult for family-owned businesses to avoid federal estate taxes when assets exceed the current per-person limit of $5.45 million. The regulation proposes to eliminate a common practice of discounting stock of minority share-holders in family-owned operations.
The Administration has looked at every way possible to make changes to the estate tax since 2011, including proposals to repeal the stepped up basis in multiple proposed budgets. This proposed rule is a backdoor attempt to capture more estate taxes.
Farm Bureau, along with the Family Business Estate Tax Coalition is collecting signatures on a letter to be sent to Treasure Secretary Jack Lew, asking for the proposed regulations to be withdrawn. Click here to simply add your name and contact information to the letter.
While the proposed rule is very involved and technical, it will have significant impacts on the way farms and ranches are able to plan the transfer of their estate and likely lead to increased estate taxes. Help us express our opposition to Secretary Lew.
Governor Jerry Brown announced he has signed AB 1066 (Gonzalez), regarding overtime for agriculture employees.
California agriculture fought this bill hard – defeated it once this year in the Assembly, held it to a narrow one-vote win in the Senate and generated bipartisan opposition to the bill in both Houses. We appreciate the efforts of our FARM TEAM members for every letter, call and visit made in regards to this legislation. Without it, we would have never kept it to such a slim margin.
We will continue to make the case to California’s political leaders that this legislation will be harmful to farm families, including employees and employers alike. Those who work on our farms and ranches will see fewer work hours and lower wages because of AB 1066. We won’t stop fighting politically-inspired mandates that hobble the competitiveness of California’s farmers and ranchers.
