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House Ag Committee chair sees positives for Minnesota farmers as session ends

The chair of the Minnesota House Agriculture Committee is confident farmers will benefit from legislation passed during the 2019 Session.

Jeanne Poppe (DFL) of Austin says the tax bill included a couple of big asks from commodity groups.

“Section 179 full conformity is in the tax bill, and that’s important. We had talked about that (with farm groups) throughout the entire session, so I’m very pleased. I carried a bill that would do the conformity for Section 179, so we were able to get that.”

The tax bill also raises the school bond referendum threshold from 40 percent to 70 percent.

“That’s significant, especially in our rural communities that are looking at crumbling infrastructure when it comes to their schools. They need to be able to go to their tax payers, and many of those are farmers who own a lot of land perhaps, but don’t necessarily have the income associated with that. Especially right now.”

She calls the Ag, Housing and Broadband bill another step in the right direction for Minnesota agriculture.

Legislators wrapped up 2019 with a one-day special session last Friday.