Statewide Iowa — Fourth district Congressman Randy Feenstra of Hull has joined his Republican colleagues on the U.S. House Agriculture Committee in voting “no” on ag-related elements of the infrastructure package House Democrats are proposing.
The panel began reviewing amendments Friday. Democrats defeated the four that Feenstra offered. One dealt with taxes and could have partially blocked a proposal to change the way inherited property, like farmland, is taxed.
The Biden Administration proposes taxing inherited property as if it were a sale, with an exemption for the first one million dollars of inherited property for an individual. Feenstra proposed freezing all spending outlined in the bill until the U.S. Ag Secretary confirms no farming operation with an annual income below $400,000 would see its taxes raised under the plan. The House Ag Committee took a vote on the package Monday morning and it passed on a party-line vote.
The $3.5 trillion infrastructure package House Democrats are proposing includes about 90 billion in ag related spending. Congresswoman Cindy Axne, a Democrat from West Des Moines, is also on the House Ag Committee. She voted “yes” on the ag committee’s portion of the infrastructure plan, citing the one billion dollars included for biofuels infrastructure and the 18 billion for USDA Rural Development.
