U.S. Senate takes up easement incentive

The Senate Finance Committee takes up expired tax provisions that need renewal — including the enhanced incentive for conservation easement donations — tomorrow! We’ve pushed for years to make this permanent.

Sens. John Thune and Debbie Stabenow are expected to offer an amendment to make permanent three charitable incentives, for conservation easements, donations from IRAs and food donations. 

All encouragement to senators on the committee would be very welcome and helpful! Regrettably, it appears the leaders have agreed to do a two-year (2015-2016) extension of all 55 expired items rather than to press to make some of them permanent. Thune and Stabenow will probably have to withdraw their amendment to keep peace on the committee right now, but we’d like to do our best to set the stage for making these permanent later this year — and senators speaking up in favor of doing that helps a lot!

Looking past tomorrow’s meeting, the committee bill is unlikely to go the full Senate anytime soon. The committee appears to have decoupled this from the highway-funding fix they need to do by August It now looks as though the House will insist on doing a highway funding package only through the end of the year, which sets up a November or December showdown on further highway funding — which will be our opportunity to make the easement incentive permanent!

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