U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) continued his support of farmers, ranchers and other small businesses last week when he co-sponsored the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015, legislation that would permanently repeal the federal estate tax.
The bill, originally introduced by fellow Sen. John Thune (R-SD), was accompanied by a fiscal 2016 budget amendment creating a neutral reserve fund to assist in eliminating the death tax.
“The death tax disproportionately hurts states like Missouri, which relies heavily on agriculture revenue,” Blunt said. “This tax is often a crushing blow to family business owners and farmers who are trying to plan for the future, which is why I support permanently eliminating it altogether.”
With more than 100,000 small farms owned by individuals, Blunt’s home state of Missouri has the second highest number of farms of any state in the nation.
Blunt was also heavily involved in legislation designed to repeal the death tax in 2013.
The Death Tax Repeal Act is backed by a number of influential agricultural and small business organizations, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, Associated Builders and Contractors, National Association of Manufacturers, National Federation of Independent Business and the Family Business Coalition, among many others.