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March 16, 2006

Wisconsin Congressmen urge House Budget Chairman
to ditch tax on dairy producers

In letter to House Budget Chairman Nussle, Wisconsin Congressmen say proposed tax “couldn’t come at a worse possible time for dairy farmers”

WASHINGTON - U.S. Reps. Jim Sensenbrenner (R- Menomonee Falls), Tom Petri (R-Fond du Lac) and Mark Green (R-Green Bay) sent a letter to House Budget Chairman Jim Nussle Thursday expressing their deep reservations to any budget that would include a tax on dairy producers.

“Putting a tax on our dairy farmers is an absolutely terrible idea,” Green said. “It would yank billions of dollars from Wisconsin’s economy, put even greater pressure on thousands of farmers around the state already struggling to make ends meet, and jeopardize the future of our proud agricultural heritage. There is simply no room for such an ill-conceived tax in this budget.”

Sensenbrenner added, “I came to Washington to reduce the tax burden on my constituents, not increase it. I hope my colleagues in Congress will get the message that a tax increase on dairy farmers is unacceptable.”

“It would be totally unreasonable to impose this tax on the already-struggling family farmers of Wisconsin," said Petri. “Dairy farming is essential to our economy, and our agricultural traditions are high on the list of the things that define our state. We need to provide a helping hand to our farmers instead of trying to pick their pockets.”


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Text of Letter Sent to House Budget Committee Chairman Nussle
Signed by Wisconsin Congressmen, Tom Petri, James Sensenbrenner, and Mark Green

The Honorable Jim Nussle
Chairman
House Committee on the Budget
309 Cannon HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Chairman Nussle:

We are writing to make you aware of our strong opposition to including an assessment on dairy producers in the House budget. As you can imagine, we have great reservations over a budget that could include a new tax on dairy farmers.

In his fiscal year 2007 budget, President Bush proposed a three cent per hundredweight assessment on milk produced. As someone committed to tax relief, we know you share our aversion to new taxes. The proposed assessment amounts to a new tax on dairy farmers. A tax imposed on one particular group is not only contrary to our political philosophy; it’s also unfair to those assessed with the tax.

This assessment would cost the average Wisconsin dairy farm milking 80 cows $443 a year. In total, the assessment would pull over $6.6 million out of Wisconsin’s rural economy. We cannot allow this to happen.

We realize that you understand the challenges facing dairy farmers and our agricultural economy. Falling milk prices and rising energy costs are already posing significant challenges to our dairy farmers. By adding an assessment to this already challenging atmosphere, many farmers will be pushed beyond the breaking point.

We hope you will agree that a tax on milk is a terrible idea that couldn’t come at a worse possible time for dairy farmers.

Thank you for your leadership and attention to our request. We look forward to working with you to prevent this dairy assessment from being included in the House budget.

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