WAWG
On March 31, Michelle Hennings, executive director of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers, testified in front of the Washington State Senate Ways and Means Committee opposing SB 5794, which would eliminate tax preferences for transporting agricultural commodities.
Hennings told the committee that the elimination of these provisions threatens the viability of the state’s wheat industry by imposing a new public utility tax on the transportation of grain to market. More than 90% of Washington’s wheat is exported, most of it travels to ports on the West Coast.
“If this tax preference is eliminated, essentially, wheat will be taxed at every stage of transportation, and it will be farmers who are forced to eat this cost,” Hennings said. “Farmers are already operating on razor-thin margins and barely breaking even. For example, farmers are getting around $5 for a bushel of wheat, and it costs them currently an average of 85 cents to transport that wheat to market. Rising input costs are making it harder for our industry to be viable. Farmers are price takers and cannot pass on costs. We need this tax preference to remain competitive.”
The bill must be passed out of committee by April 2, unless it is considered “necessary to implement the budget.”