Fighting the Death Tax

Fighting the Death Tax. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.

The estate tax. Also called an inheritance tax or even the death tax is again under fire from a number of organizations looking to completely abolish it. Palmer Schoening, Director of Federal Affairs for American Family Business Institute.

SCHOENING: Over in the House of course we have Congressman Brady’s bill HR 1259 and that’s going to be our main focus over on the House side. We think it’s really important to show that at least one of the chambers can pass death tax repeal legislation. This particular bill has 20 or 22 Republican Ways and Means members on board. It’s a bi-partisan bill; 4 Democrats. We’re working with leadership in the House on that bill.

The American Family Business Institute is a 501c3 representing family business owners, large and small, throughout America. Their mission is the permanent repeal of the federal estate tax. He says with everything going on it will be really important for Congress to hear from us.

SCHOENING: It’s going to be important for Congress to hear from the farm families about how important this is, especially with the 55% hanging out there in 2013 this is should be priority and they need to hear about it. Now over on the Senate side, when we pass HR 1259 through the House we’re going to work to get a mirror version introduced over on the Senate.

Best case scenario according to Schoening would be to have a mirror bill in the Senate and get it to a vote. And of course there is the election coming up this year.

SCHOENING: Some of the Senators haven’t been put on the record yet on the death tax issue. We have obviously 23 democrats who are up for reelection, many who come from former Bush red states which are the very states where the death tax resonates most strongly so one way or another we think it’s really important to get a vote over on the Senate side.

The most likely scenario on the Senate side according to Schoening would be as an amendment to another bill.

SCHOENING: Th last time we got a vote over in the Senate it was a motion to recommit with instruction to get rid of the death tax and that was by Senator Demint. And we’re currently working with a few different Senators on this particular issue now. Many of them have told us we’re not going to stick our necks out on co-sponsoring the bill but you can consider us a good vote. So that’s kinda how we see both chambers playing out.

More tomorrow on the estate tax issue.

That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.