LaHood, Murphy Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Modernize Financing Tools for Farmers and Manufacturers

 

[December 18, 2019] 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Reps. Darin LaHood (R-IL) and Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) introduced bipartisan legislation today to modernize the decades old financing tools used by farmers and manufacturers to grow and create more jobs. The Modernizing Agriculture and Manufacturing Bonds Act (MAMBA), H.R. 5422, would help struggling manufacturers and first-time farmers expand their businesses, invest in new equipment and hire more workers. These bonds are a key economic development tool for state and local development agencies and are a key instrument for financing small- to mid-sized manufacturers.

“Farming and manufacturing are critical to the economic success of the constituents I represent in central and west-central Illinois,” said LaHood. “Our legislation will help entrepreneurs and first-time farmers receive the financing they need to grow, create good-paying jobs, and bolster our economy in the Midwest. I am proud to join my Ways and Means colleague Rep. Stephanie Murphy in this bipartisan effort, and I’ll continue to work in Congress to ensure farmers and manufacturers have the necessary tools to be successful in our 21st-centruy economy.”

“Florida farmers and manufacturers deserve to have new and innovative financing tools to invest in their local community and hire more workers,” said Murphy. “I’m proud to lead this bipartisan bill with Rep. LaHood that will modernize the way farmers and manufacturers across the country acquire capital, providing them with the resources they need to grow, create more jobs, and bring their businesses to the 21st century.”

The legislation is endorsed by many development finance agencies, private sector entities, and key industry stakeholders including the Florida Development Finance Corporation, Illinois Finance Authority, the Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA), and the National Council of State Agricultural Finance Programs.

“America needs low-cost and efficient twenty-first century financing tools to help our small manufacturers and small farmers compete in world markets as well as to grow the number of quality American middle-class jobs that these employers support. In Illinois, we know, first-hand, the power of federally tax-exempt manufacturing and farmer bonds – proven and effective private-public tools – to spur essential capital investment and to create jobs. The Modernizing Agricultural and Manufacturing Bonds Act (“MAMBA”) reinvigorates these tools by substantially updating federal manufacturing and farmer finance law for the first time in decades in order to reflect the American economy of 2020, not the 1970s. We thank United States Representatives Stephanie Murphy (FL-7) and Darin LaHood (IL-18) for their bipartisan work to bring manufacturing and farm finance into the twenty-first century through the introduction of MAMBA in the 116th Congress,” said Chris Meister, Executive Director, Illinois Finance Authority.

“We're thrilled that MAMBA has been reintroduced. It's a vital piece of legislation that will help lower the barriers for small manufacturers and first-time farmers to access affordable capital,” said CDFA President and CEO Toby Rittner. “Representatives Murphy and LaHood have been great champions of private activity bonds and the development finance industry as a whole, and I'm thankful for their commitment to manufacturing and farming, pillars of the American economy.”

“These proposed changes will make a big difference to businesses in Florida. These provisions would help many American small manufacturers and first-time farmers receive the financing they need to grow, create more jobs for Floridians, and build a strong local economy. The Florida Development Finance Corporation supports these proposed amendments and hopes for bi-partisan support to pass these much-needed improvements,” said Bill Spivey, Executive Director, Florida Development Finance Corporation.

[OFFICE OF CONGRESSMAN DARIN LaHOOD]