This week the Senate Finance Committee released its version of the Republican tax reform bill. The bill differs in some respects from the previously released House version. For example, the Senate bill would completely eliminate the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, while the House bill would retain a deduction for property tax up to $10,000. If enacted, the elimination of the deduction would disproportionately affect taxpayers from states with high tax rates, such as Iowa and Minnesota.
In other news, President Trump's nominee for chair of the Council on Environmental Quality faced tough questions at her nomination hearing in front of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee this week. Several senators asked Kathleen Hartnett White about previous comments she had made that were critical of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). In contrast to comments that she made as regulator in the Texas state government, Hartnett White said that she "salute[s]" the ethanol industry.
This discussion comes at a time when a fight may be brewing over the RFS. The White House openly contemplated weakening the standard, but backed off in the face of pressure from politicians from heavy corn-producing states. However, last month several Republican senators from oil-producing states sent a letter to the White House criticizing the RFS. While the RFS does not appear to be going away any time soon, because of the impact that the standard has on corn production the fight may ultimately have a large impact on agriculture in the Upper Mississippi River Basin.
