April 14,2008

Finance Committee Leaders Detail Elements of Farm Bill Tax Package

Washington, DC - Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today detailed specific elements of the agriculture tax package included in the Senate’s recent offer to House conferees in ongoing farm bill negotiations. Baucus and Grassley, who are also senior members of the Senate Agriculture Committee, crafted the agriculture tax package in the Senate farm bill to convert a number of conservation payment programs into fully-offset tax credit programs, to offer additional incentives for rural economic development and energy related tax relief to aid agricultural producers, and to free up previously obligated spending funds for the Agriculture Committee to use elsewhere in farm bill spending.
The measures received overwhelming Senate support in a December vote on the overall farm bill.

Senate and House conferees will meet this afternoon to continue farm bill negotiations. Highlights of the tax elements in the current Senate offer are as follows, with estimated costs. See an overview of provisions, including estimated costs, in the printer-friendly version of this release.

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