2015 Legislative Priorities
114th Congress, 1st Session
Tax Reform – NAEDA supports tax reform efforts. Our policy positions which have been communicated to
the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee have outlined the following
requested actions:
 Make permanent the bonus depreciation and Section 179 provisions enacted under the American
Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 and the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014 (aka Tax Extenders Act).
Support the passage of the America’s Small Business Tax Relief Act of 2015 (HR 636) that passed
the House in February the reinstates Section 179 to $500,000 and a 50% bonus depreciation
capability.
 Change the farm and ranch equipment assigned class life to five years for depreciation purposes.
This will match the same assigned class life of construction equipment.
 Modify the current depreciation schedules for equipment dealer buildings and their contents to
accurately reflect actual lifetime usage rates and specialty uses to match the industry’s needs.
 Do NOT repeal Last-In, First-Out (LIFO) accounting.
 Support passage of the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015 (H.R. 1105) that has pass out of the House.
 Delete IRC Section 263A of the IRS Code method that requires businesses to capitalize certain costs,
such as labor, handling, purchasing and storage of inventory products, if the business has more than
$10 million in annual sales.
 Ensure tax reform has a balanced approach to taxation through fair and reasonable personal and
corporate rates, and doesn’t penalize pass-through entities with double taxation.
Water Resources and Infrastructure – Depleting water resources may be the most significant
challenge global agriculture will face in future decades. NAEDA supported passage of the Water Resources
Development Act (WRDA), which re-authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ support of the nation's
ports and waterways infrastructure needs, as well as flood protection and environmental restoration.
With the passage of WRDA, the 9-cent-a-gallon barge tax increase should be used to start to pay for the ports
and waterways critical to moving agricultural exports. The House’s fiscal 2016 funding bill for the Army
Corps of Engineers includes an increase in funding for inland water projects by $59 million over fiscal year
2015 and would spend nearly $1.2 billion on port projects from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund. That
would be a 5.1% increase from the current fiscal year and $915 million more than the White House requested
for fiscal year 2016. This funding should be a top priority of Congress.
Trade - With several new trade deals, in the works, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership, NAEDA
supports passage of the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 (H.R. 1890
& S.B. 995) that will give the White House new fast-track authority (Trade Promotion Authority / TPA) to
allow trade agreements to receive an up-or-down vote and move in an expedited fashion. TPA was last
granted to President George W. Bush in 2002 and the current authority expired in 2007.
We also support legislation that would allow and support trade with Cuba. U.S. producers compete with
Brazil, Canada, and other countries for trade with Cuba that could best be served by the U.S. Allowing
financing opportunities, lifting of the Cuban trade embargo and allowing American consumers the
opportunity to purchase Cuban-made commodities will benefit both countries.
Regulatory Reform – NAEDA supports regulatory reform by Congress that would restore checks and
balances to the regulatory process. We support increased public participation in the rulemaking process;
restricting agencies’ use of interim final regulations; providing for a more rigorous test as to the cost of the
regulations; and requiring agencies to choose the least costly regulatory option unless the agency can prove a
need to protect public health, safety or welfare. Legislation is needed to define “a fair” regulatory climate,
process and review and make the regulatory process more transparent, agencies more accountable and
regulation more cost effective. House Bills 185 and 348, dealing with regulatory reform, are bills we support.
We also support the bill introduced by Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) entitled the
Federal Permitting Improvement Act of 2015 (S.B. 280) that would streamline permitting for environmental
reviews and permitting under the National Environmental Policy Act for major infrastructure, energy and
manufacturing projects.
NAEDA is also concerned that EPA is wading into the definition of “Waters of the U.S.” and determining
which waterways require protection under the Clean Water Act. A second proposed rule that has been sent to
the Office of Management and Budget for their review and possible approval. EPA’s efforts have been
criticized by some in the agriculture community as overly broad and far-reaching which raises our concern
on how this will affect our dealer’s customers and future sales of farm equipment by possibly limiting farm
and ranch land use. We support passage of the Regulatory Integrity Protection Act (H.R. 1732) which has
been introduced by Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) and Rep. Robert Gibbs (R-OH) that would direct EPA and
the Army Corps of Engineers to initiate dialogue with state and local governments and impacted stakeholders
before proposing a new rule.
A second concern is the legal battles over EPA action –or non-action –on nutrient limits for the Mississippi
River Basin. Environmental groups have petitioned EPA to develop numeric limits for nitrogen and
phosphorus, often carried in farm runoff, for the 2,530 mile long river and its tributaries. A federal court held
that EPA has to respond and determine whether numeric limitations on the pollutants are appropriate for the
Mississippi’s basin. Our concern is any effort to set numeric nutrient criteria and standards by EPA is
underscored by the sheer size of the Mississippi’s basin, which collects water from 31 states and the amount
of land use that could be impacted.
Transportation Funding - In a report on the state of America's transportation infrastructure, 2013 Status of
the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit: Conditions and Performance, the U.S. Department of
Transportation confirms that more investment is needed to maintain and improve the nation's highway and
transit systems. The report, based on 2010 data, estimates all levels of government would need to spend
between $123.7 billion and $145.9 billion per year to both maintain and improve the condition of roads and
bridges alone. The report also indicates that as much as $24.5 billion is needed per year to improve the
condition of transit rail and bus systems.
NAEDA supports passage of an extension of MAP-21 and funding mechanisms needed for transportation
infrastructure upgrades. Urgent immediate steps are also needed to ensure the Highway Trust Fund’s (HTF)
long-term solvency.