MITCHELL SCHMIDT

Wisconsin State Journal

Republican-led farm aid legislation were proposed as a revision of Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers efforts earlier this year. Those revisions would provide farmers with tax credits and health-insurance deductions that would cost about $36 million annually.

A package of five bills includes an estimated $9 million in annual health-insurance deductions for sole proprietors such as farmers. They also include a three-year targeted tax credit for the state’s smallest farms that would cost about $27 million per year. They also include amended versions of two Evers bills. Republicans call the bills bigger and bolder than the $8.5 million investment first proposed by Evers during his State of the State address,

Farmers would be able to apply the tax credit to as much as 66 percent of property taxes on buildings exclusively used for farming. The credit would be capped at $7,500; claimants would need to make at least $35,000 in annual farm income to be eligible.

Wis. Rep. Travis Tranel, R-49-Cuba City, estimated the tax credit would cost $27 million. He said Wisconsin’s recently announced added tax revenue could be a potential source of funding.

“This bill would put $27 million directly into the pockets of farmers at a time when their No. 1 issue is cash flow,” he said.

He said the credit would be a short-term fix.

In the first year farmers would be able to request the tax credit from the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. It would transition to a refundable tax credit in the two following years before the credit sunsets. Some Democratic lawmakers, including Evers, have questioned if the bill will give money to farmers in a timely fashion, but Tranel said funds should be available by late spring or early summer.

Facing a struggling agriculture industry, hundreds of Wisconsin farms shuttered this past year. Wisconsin farmers received more than $432 million in federal aid between September 2018 and November 2019, according to data provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Another proposed bill would allow self-employed individuals to deduct health insurance from their taxes.

Wis. Rep. Amy Loudenbeck, R-31-Clinton, said about 85 percent of Wisconsin farmers were self-employed in 2017. Of the estimated $9 million cost of the bill, about $2.5 million would go to farmers while the remainder would go to other self-employed small businesses.

“This is I think a really progressive tax bill,” Wis. Rep. Dave Considine, D-81-Baraboo, said. “The rest of that is going to go to the working poor.”

The Republican proposal also would direct the University of Wisconsin-Madison to compile a report on ways to best serve the state’s farmers as well as to conduct research into technology specific to agriculture.

Another proposed bill would require the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. to work with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to increase state exports of farm products including dairy, meat and crops. Under the bill as much as $5 million would be allocated to expanding exports in the 2021-2023 fiscal biennium. Evers had originally proposed spending $1 million on expanded exports, with funds made available immediately.

Democratic committee members Considine; Wis. Rep. Don Vruwink, D-43-Milton; and Wis. Rep. LaKeshia Myers, D-12-Milwaukee; voted against the proposal – citing the delay in funding and potential logistical challenges of having two state departments collaborate in the effort.

Republicans also amended the Evers bill to award grants to dairy-processing plants only if they produce no more than 50 million pounds of processed product per year. The grant would provide $1.2 million split over two years to eligible plants. Evers initially proposed dairy-processing grants and increasing dairy-export spending in his 2019-2021 budget, but the items were stripped by Republicans.

With the Wisconsin Assembly expected to adjourn this month and the Wisconsin Senate likely closing the session next month, the bills have little time to reach Evers – who has final say regarding whether they become law.