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The
measure allocates nearly $370 billion toward renewable energy
subsidies. It also has health care provisions like caps on
insulin for Medicare recipients and more. The measure will also
increase taxes on incomes over $400,000, and imposes a 15%
minimum income tax on business profits.
Illinois Farm Bureau President Richard Guebert said there are
some good things in the bill, but on taxes, farmers need to
“fasten their seatbelts.”
“It really gives us heartburn of what the tax implications will
be for the long term,” Guebert told WMAY. “There always, I
think, will be a trickle down effect to the farmgate, you might
say, and the consumer.”
U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Moline, didn’t address the tax
concerns, and said other elements of the bill will help farmers.
“We’ve got oversubscribed programs on conservation. We will now
have the money to incentivize more of our family farmers to
practice good conservation measures,” Bustos told The Center
Square.
She called the Inflation Reduction Act a “farm bill lite,”
including expanding and funding expansion of biodiesel fuel.
“President Biden signed the year-round E15 executive order,”
Bustos said. “Now we’ve got money to build that out.”
Guebert said the biodiesel provisions are good for farmers, but
it’s hard to shake concerns about possible tax increases on
farmers making more than $400,000 a year.
“Farmers usually pay a lot of taxes, more in real estate taxes
and property taxes probably, but we’ll just have to see how that
trickles down and impacts agriculture going forward,” Guebert
said.
Greg Bishop reports on Illinois government and
other issues for The Center Square. Bishop has years of
award-winning broadcast experience and hosts the WMAY Morning
Newsfeed out of Springfield.
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