Ag Agenda

Ag Agenda

Ag Agenda

I'm Lacy Gray with Washington Ag Today.

Tom Davis with the Washington Farm Bureau is back to talk more about legislation that will affect agriculture during the 2015 legislative session, particularly tax and water legislation.

DAVIS: We were extremely excited to see in the Governor's budget that he included extending three of the food processing tax incentives that were scheduled to go away in June of this year. So we think that bodes very well for the conversation within the House and the Senate. We've got a tax study that the ag industry has self-funded that will be out here in the next couple of weeks that shows the benefit to the state of the tax incentives that are provided to agriculture - both in taxes paid, jobs created, and just the overall impact to the state's economy.

Davis says that they continue to watch for tax increases that may impact Washington farmers and ranchers, not the least being capitol gains and carbon taxes. The Governor has proposed a 7% tax on capital gains of more than $25,000 for individuals and $50,000 for couples.

Water is another issue that is once again being tackled during legislative session, with a statewide multi-million dollar water bond being proposed.

DAVIS: Senator Honeyford has a bill that we are definitely working with him on. The challenge is it's a grand idea in that it takes on stormwater and storage - all very needed items both east side/ west side, but how do you pay for it? I don't think anybody questions the validity of the projects that are termed into the bill; it's what is the right way to pay for it.

That's Washington Ag Today.

I'm Lacy Gray with the Ag Information Network of the West.

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