WASHINGTON, D.C. (RFD-TV) – Rep. Michelle Fischbach, who represents Minnesota’s Seventh District and serves on both the House Ways and Means and Rules Committees, is featured in today’s Champions of Rural America for her role in crafting the Working Families Tax Cut.
In her conversation with RFD-TV News, Fischbach described the year-long process behind developing the tax portion of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act (OBBBA). She explained that lawmakers began by traveling across the country to hear directly from Americans — including farmers and business owners — about what they needed from the tax bill. She noted that after gathering this public input, committee members spent long days reviewing each tax provision, sometimes up to 14 hours at a time, to understand how the changes would affect farmers, small businesses, and families.
“One of the important things that we looked at when we did the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ is, in particular for me — and I know a lot of the members on Ways and Means — was that it was really going to help rural America, because that’s the great place to live, that’s where the great people live, and we want to make sure that we are helping them and not hindering anything they are trying to accomplish in rural Minnesota and across the country,” she said. “One of the things: the 199-A Small Business Deduction. We made sure people were able to keep that, and up to 20%, to that deduction, for those small businesses. In my district alone, it affects 50,000 taxpayers. Then we also had the new market tax credit, and what that does is that it helps spur investment and growth in those rural areas. That’s another important part of the One Big Beautiful Bill. And then, finally, the Death Tax Exemption. And I know that affects both small businesses and especially farmers, and we were able to double that and make it permanent, and that’s an important part of passing on the family farm.”
Rep. Fischbach also detailed how the OBBBA supports rural America. She highlighted the preservation of the 199A small-business deduction, up to 20 percent, which she says affects 50,000 taxpayers in her district alone. She pointed to the New Market Tax Credit as another necessary provision designed to spur investment and growth in rural communities. Additionally, she emphasized the importance of doubling and making permanent the estate tax exemption, which she said is critical for farmers and small business owners seeking to pass their operations on to the next generation.
Fischbach discussed the farm-focused provisions included in the House’s proposed Farm Bill that were incorporated into the broader legislation. These include crop insurance reforms and increased premium subsidies, an increase in the reference price for Price Loss Coverage to support more frequent farmer payments, and roughly $2.2 billion in trade promotion funds to help expand global markets for U.S. agricultural products.
Looking to the future, Fischbach said the bill provides long-term benefits for the next generation of farmers. She pointed to measures that prevent tax hikes, the permanent estate tax exemption, and the availability of affordable crop insurance as key components that will help safeguard family farms and support future producers.
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