July 27, 2012 NATIONAL NEWS Possible extension of the 2008 farm bill in the works House Republican leaders are considering a one-year extension of certain farm and nutrition programs. The short term extension is gathering bi-partisan support and includes disaster aid for drought afflicted farmers. The extension could come up for a vote next week before the recess.It does not appear to be a straight forward extension of all programs and the drought assistance would need to find funding. One possible source of funding would be a cut to direct payments. While a House extension could hinder the passage of a new farm bill, Senate Agriculture Chairman Debbie Stabenow has indicated that she would seek to move to the conference committee stage if the House passes an extension. This move could preempt a floor vote of House’s FARRM bill and possibly complete work on the 2012 farm bill before the September expiration date.
Tax cut bill advances in Senate, does not include estate tax revision The Senate voted 51-48 to pass S. 3412, the Middle Class Tax Cut Act, introduced by Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) this week. Farm Bureau opposed the bill. Only a simple majority was needed for passage due to an agreement reached between the two parties. The bill would extend the 01-03 tax cuts (Bush tax cuts) for taxpayers making under $250,000/couple or $200,000/individual, except for the estate tax on which the bill is silent. Because the bill does not contain estate tax language, the exemption would shrink from $5 million to $1 million per person on Jan. 1 and the top rate will increase from 35 to 55 percent. Capital gains tax rates will increase from 15 percent to 20 percent for taxpayers over the income threshold. The Farm Bureau-supported alternative amendment, S. 3413, the Tax Hike Prevention Act of 2012, failed 45-54. Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) was the only Democrat to support the amendment. The Hatch-McConnell provision would have extended the 01-03 tax cuts for all taxpayers for one year and contained instructions for passing fundamental tax reform. Under this proposal, the estate tax exemption would remain at $5 million per person, the top rate would stay at 35 percent and a surviving spouse would be able to claim any exemption amount unused by a deceased spouse. Farm Bureau supports a full repeal of estate taxes. Arkansas Farm Bureau sent a letter of support for S. 3413 to Sens. Boozman and Pryor. Since the Senate bill does not include estate reform, Sen. Pryor has partnered with Sen. McCaskill (D – MO) and Sen. Tester (D-MT) on S.3440 which would extend current estate tax rates through 2013. The House will not take up the Senate-passed bill and, instead, will vote next week on H.R. 8, the Job Protection and Recession Prevention Act of 2012, which is the companion bill to the defeated Hatch-McConnell S. 3413. Farm Bureau supports passage of H.R. 8.
Farm fuel measure approved by House transportation panel The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee by voice vote approved an amended bill (HR 3158) proposed by Rep. Rick Crawford that would direct the Environmental Protection Agency administrator to raise exemption levels for a single fuel container at any farm from 1,320 gallons to 10,000 gallons.
House bill prevents proposed youth labor regulations Tuesday, the Preserving American Family Farms Act, H.R. 4157, introduced by Rep. Tom Latham (RIowa) passed the House by a voice vote. Farm Bureau supports H.R. 4157. The bill prevents the reissuance of a proposal in the same form, or issue a new rule that is substantially the same as, the withdrawn child labor proposal. The Department of Labor withdrew the proposed regulations earlier this year after significant resistance from the ag community.
STATE NEWS Drought meeting added for north central Arkansas The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture has added another meeting for livestock producers in north central Arkansas to discuss drought management strategies. The August meetings will be held in DeQueen, Magnolia, Hot Springs and Quitman. The sessions will deal with tax considerations, stretching hay supplies with crop residues and byproduct feeds and cattle management techniques, forage management, and body condition score-based feeding. DeQueen – Aug. 1 at Cossatot Community College-University of Arkansas agriculture building, 6:30 p.m. Quitman – Aug. 7 at Quitman High School Cafeteria, 6275 Heber Springs Road West. 6 p.m. Magnolia – Aug. 8 at Bancorp South building, Partee room, 6:30 p.m. Hot Springs – Aug. 15 at the Garland County Fairgrounds , 6:30 p.m. There is no cost to attend and no pre-registration to attend. More information is available through the county extension offices about the conferences. Farm Credit of Western Arkansas is helping sponsor the meetings.
Ballot prospects for all citizen driven initiatives unlikely Secretary of State Mark Martin has completed his initial review of the ballot initiatives and all the proposed initiatives are tens of thousands of valid signatures short of the legally required threshold. It will be difficult for any of the initiatives to gather the needed valid signatures in the 30 day recovery period allowed by state law.
Upcoming State Legislative Meetings Tuesday, July 31, 2012 8:00 AM Room A, MAC * AUDIT STAFF (All Day) 1:30 PM Room 171 STATE AGENCIES & GOVT'L AFFAIRS- HOUSE Wednesday, August 01, 2012 1:30 PM Room 171 STATE AGENCIES & GOVT'L AFFAIRS-SENATE & HOUSE Thursday, August 02, 2012 10:00 AM Room B, MAC ALC-REVIEW 1:30 PM Room A, MAC ALC-PEER 2:00 PM OSC * SECRETARY OF STATE Friday, August 03, 2012 9:00 AM Phillips Community College of the U of A - Campus Seminar Room - 2807 Highway 165 South Stuttgart ENERGY - JOINT meeting with AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT- HOUSE & SENATE Wednesday, August 08, 2012
3:30 PM Northwest Arkansas Holiday Inn & Convention Center - Salone E, Holiday Inn - 1500 S. 48th Street Springdale CITY, COUNTY & LOCAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE - SENATE & HOUSE Thursday, August 09, 2012
11:00 AM Northwest Arkansas Holiday Inn & Convention Center - Salons AB&C, Holiday Inn 1500 S. 48th Street Springdale CITY, COUNTY & LOCAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE - SENATE & HOUSE Friday, August 10, 2012 9:00 AM NW AR Holiday Inn & Convention Center - Hammons I & II, Conv. Center - 1500 S. 48th Street Springdale CITY, COUNTY & LOCAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE - SENATE & HOUSE Monday, August 13, 2012 10:00 AM Room 171 EDUCATION COMMITTEE - SENATE & HOUSE 1:30 PM Room 151 LEGISLATIVE TASK FORCE ON SUSTAINABLE BUILDING DESIGN AND PRACTICES Tuesday, August 14, 2012 9:00 AM Room 171 EDUCATION COMMITTEE - SENATE & HOUSE 1:30 PM Room A, MAC ALC-HOSPITAL AND MEDICAID STUDY SUBCOMMITTEE 2:00 PM ASU-Heber Springs - Student Services/Administration Building, Entergy Room - 101 River Crest Drive Heber Springs CHILDREN AND YOUTH COMMITTEE – SENATE Wednesday, August 15, 2012 9:00 AM ASU-Heber Springs - Student Services/Administration Building, Entergy Room - 101 River Crest Drive Heber Springs CHILDREN AND YOUTH COMMITTEE - SENATE Agenda 9:00 AM Room A, MAC ALC-HOSPITAL AND MEDICAID STUDY SUBCOMMITTEE Thursday, August 16, 2012 10:00 AM Southwestern Energy Office - 1000 Southwestern Energy Drive Conway * ALTERNATIVE ENERGY COMMISSION 10:00 AM Room 171 PUBLIC HEALTH, WELFARE AND LABOR COMMITTEE - SENATE & HOUSE 1:00 PM Room A, MAC ALC-HIGHER EDUCATION SUBCOMMITTEE 1:30 PM Room 151 CHILDREN AND YOUTH COMMITTEE – SENATE & AGING, CHILDREN AND YOUTH, LEGISLATIVE & MILITARY AFFAIRS- HOUSE New customers can get a discount on high-speed Internet by Satellite from HughesNet. $99 INSTANT CREDIT at time of Activation of NEW HughesNet account for Farm Bureau Members! CALL 1-866-556-9661 Looking for a great recipe? Check out Arkansas Farm Bureau’s new blog at http://www.tastearkansas.com. It features new recipes almost daily and Arkansas farmers. VISIT THE ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU WEBSITE AT http://www.arfb.com HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE You are receiving this newsletter because you requested that your email address be added to the electronic newsletter. To unsubscribe please reply to this email with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line, or send a separate email to Teresa.smith@arfb.com ----------------------------------------------------Arkansas Farm Bureau 10720 Kanis Road Little Rock, AR 72211 501-224-4400