ICBA urging grassroots outreach on ACRE Act

With Congress potentially taking up tax legislation when it returns from the current congressional recess, ICBA is calling on community bankers to urge their lawmakers to co-sponsor legislation that would provide tax relief to support rural lending.

Details: ICBA urges community bankers to use its Be Heard Grassroots Action Center to contact their members of Congress in support of the Access to Credit for our Rural Economy (ACRE) Act (H.R. 1822 and S. 838). The ICBA-advocated legislation would exempt from taxation interest income on farm real estate and rural mortgage loans in small towns.

Background: The ACRE Act would:

• Provide farmers, ranchers and rural homeowners with lower-cost credit.

• Allow producers to improve their cashflow positions at a time of tremendous economic stress in the farm sector.

• Enable family farmers to remain on their farms and ranches, preventing further consolidation within the farm sector.

• Offer community banks flexibility to work with struggling family farmers and ranchers.

ICBA Support: ICBA and 44 state banking associations have sent letters to Congress asking for support, and ICBA is meeting with members of the House Ways and Means Committee about including it in the upcoming tax bill.

Key Priority: The ACRE Act is a key priority of ICBA’s “Repair, Reform, and Thrive” plan and open letter to the 119th Congress, which outline comprehensive reforms to address the nation’s policy challenges.

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