Supporting the Farm Bill

Floor Speech

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Mr. MANN. Mr. Speaker, as Congress works to reauthorize the farm bill, I rise today to deliver the 17th installment of my farm bill impact series, where I am highlighting various aspects of the legislation that deserve Congress' awareness and support.

The farm bill won't ever be effective, though, if the stepped-up basis is eliminated and if producers get saddled with unjust capital gains taxes.

Sadly, that is exactly what President Biden's budget proposal does. It works to eliminate the stepped-up basis and impose capital gains taxes on assets that have been held in family trust or ownership for over 90 years. This is the farm killer tax.

Here is why the stepped-up basis is so important. Let's say you are a young person working on your family farm, and you are slowly taking on responsibility and risk. You work for your parents until the time comes for you to take over the land, equipment, and livestock. When that happens, the Federal Government should not jump in and impose taxes on the unrealized gains of these inherited assets.

This principle is called the stepped-up basis and has a long precedent in the tax code with tons of bipartisan support.

The President's budget, however, works to eliminate this, which would destroy family farms overnight. The day-to-day trials of operating a successful farm, ranch, or small business are challenging enough without worrying about paying devastating capital gains taxes, and now the Biden administration wants to impose new taxes on these people.

Unbelievably, it gets even worse when dismantling the stepped-up basis. President Biden's budget proposal also includes the farm killer tax. In President Biden's budget proposal, there is a plan to impose capital gains taxes on farms that have been in the family for over 90 years.

Think about that. In 1940, the average cost of Kansas farmland was $50 an acre. Now, irrigated land is as much as $4,000 per acre.

Imagine the capital gains tax implications on that history of ownership. This proposal would propose hundreds of thousands of dollars in new capital gains taxes on agriculture producers, destroying their livelihoods.

Mr. Speaker, 98 percent of all American farms and 90 percent of all American small businesses are family owned and operated. A budget proposal that eliminates the stepped-up basis and imposes the farm killer tax is not a game changer for American family businesses. It is a game ender.

Agriculture is a multigenerational calling. This is National Ag Week when we celebrate the tireless efforts of farmers, ranchers, and producers who have earned our support. President Biden's budget proposal is the opposite of support. It is a gut punch to the people who feed, fuel, and clothe us all.

This week, I introduced a bipartisan resolution with more than 60 of my colleagues who support the preservation of the stepped-up basis, oppose any efforts to impose new taxes on family farms and small businesses, and recognize the importance of generational transfers of farm and small business operations. I encourage all of my colleagues in this body to support it.

If we want to invest in the future of our country, we need to invest in the future leaders of American agriculture. Congress must preserve the stepped-up basis and oppose the farm killer tax.

I will be back on the floor soon to deliver another installment of my farm bill impact series and highlight more programs and titles within the bill that I believe Congress must understand and support to ensure that agriculture thrives in America. The people who feed, fuel, and clothe us all deserve our unwavering support.

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