| Tax Favoritism for the Nature
Conservancy!
May 1, 2003 By Mike Hardiman Washington Watch On April 9, the United States Senate voted in favor of a huge new special interest tax break to benefit multi-billion dollar Land Trusts such as the Nature Conservancy. The Nature Conservancy had $3 Billion in assets, and $721 Million in annual revenue in 2001. This Tax Favoritism places private parties at a disadvantage when competing against Land Trusts and other environmental groups to purchase land. INCREDIBLY, it also places churches, private schools, charities and orphanages at a disadvantage as well -- and yet it is a part of the "Faith Based Initiative," which is supposed to help these very same faith-based institutions! HOWEVER, the House of Representatives is expected to be a different story. Senate bill S.476 now heads to the House. Many House members, including many in the Republican leadership, DO NOT support Tax Favoritism for multi-billion dollar Land Trusts and are likely to take out these provisions, IF YOU SPEAK OUT! This battle will continue to be fought throughout the summer. S.476, Sections 106 and 107, is a 25% tax cut on capital gains of land sales -- but only if the land is sold to an environmental group or to a government agency! Private parties, or non-environmentalist charities such as churches, orphanages, private schools and social service centers are left in the dust! AND, it includes sales of WATER RIGHTS! Even though it is technically a 'tax break' for the SELLER of the land, all it will benefit is the BUYER -- if it is a Land Trust or government agency! The land trusts will be able to reduce their offers for land purchases, because of their favored tax status compared to other potential buyers. They will be able to lower their offer by the amount of the tax break to the seller, thus eliminating nearly all of the benefit for the seller. S.476 - CARE Act of 2003 - Faith Based Initiative SEC. 107. EXCLUSION OF 25 PERCENT OF GAIN ON SALES OR EXCHANGES OF LAND OR WATER INTERESTS TO ELIGIBLE ENTITIES FOR CONSERVATION PURPOSES. Action Item: The House sponsor of the Faith Based Initiative is expected to be House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, a Republican from Missouri. Blunt is a strong conservative and very supportive of private property rights. The big Land Trusts are pushing hard for this Tax Favoritism, and their lobbyists are crawling all over Capitol Hill. Congressman Blunt needs to hear from you! He needs to know that he has backing from conservatives across the country in order to keep this special interest provision out of the legislation, and carry the battle all the way to the end. If he hears from enough of us, then he will take on the fight -- no Tax Favoritism for the Nature Conservancy. Majority Whip Roy Blunt Capitol Building, H-107 Washington, DC 20515 202-225-0197 Fax 202-225-5604 Bills we are watching: GOOD BILLS: House: HR 51 (Cox, R-CA), HR 57 (Dunn, R-WA) - the bills differ slightly, but both propose permanent repeal of the estate tax, also known as the Death Tax. The Death Tax is a major factor in breaking up family businesses. The Nature Conservancy and the other multibillion dollar land trusts just love the Death Tax, because it allows them to hover like buzzards over family ranches and farms. They dangle conservation easement tax breaks in front of families when they have their backs against the wall financially, due to owing the Death Tax because of a death in the family. Think twice, and look very carefully at the fine print before making a land trust a co-owner of your land! Senate companion bills are S 96, S 169. HR 67 (Flake, R-AZ) - Disaster Area Exemption Act. Temporarily exempts federally declared disaster areas from the endless environmental regulations and appeals which hold up aid for families and cleanup. HR 353 (Duncan, R - TN) Dispose of all Bureau of Land Management lands recommended for sale back to private property by the Department of the Interior. HR 460 (Hayworth, R-AZ) - Study the prevention of wildfires. Senate companion is S 32. Senate: HR 701 (Paul, R-TX) Will restore to the original owners certain lands that were seized by the federal government in 1940 for military use, and not returned even though they have not been used by the feds for many years. NOTE: You may recall that HR 701 was, in the previous two congresses, previously the bill number of the "CARA" multi-billion dollar land grab bill. Now in the 108th Congress, thanks to Ron Paul, it stands for citizens getting their land back! HR 849 (Shadegg R-AZ) To authorize the Regional Foresters to exempt tree-thinning projects, which are necessary to prevent the occurrence of wildfire likely to cause extreme harm to the forest ecosystem, from laws that give rise to legal causes of action that delay or prevent such projects. HR 1005 (McInnis, R-CO and Gibbons, R-NV) PILT and Refuge Revenue Sharing Permanent Funding Act. Will fully compensate counties for losses in tax revenue due to federal government ownership of land (the federal government does not pay taxes to localities). HR 1014 (Radanovich R-CA) Requires Federal land managers to communicate and cooperate with designated gateway communities, to improve these small communities' ability to participate in Federal land management planning conducted by the Forest Service and agencies of the Department of the Interior. HR 1517 (Graves R-MO) Changes the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to put all funds into restoration and maintenance, and prohibits the fund from being used for land acquisition. HR 1831 (Renzi, R-AZ) Legislation to keep open Glen Canyon Recreation Area and Lake Powell for use by personal watercraft. Senate: S 32 (Kyl, R-AZ) - Study the prevention of wildfires. House companion is HR 460. S 96, S 169 (both Kyl, R-AZ)- The bills differ slightly, but both propose permanent repeal of the estate tax, also known as the Death Tax. House companion bills are HR 51, HR 57. Death should NOT be a taxable event! S 369 (Thomas, R-WY) Endangered Species Act revisions. Will add a greater role for the states and require more thorough biological evidence of a species being endangered before it can be claimed as endangered. Cosponsors so far include Sen. Hagel (R-NE) and Sen. Craig (R-ID). S. 372 (Thomas, R-WY) Requires federal agencies to grant state and local governments "cooperating agency" status in the preparation of Environmental Impact Statements or other environmental analysis. S 511 (Binghaman, D-NM) and Ensign, R-NV) Full payment of PILT funds. Companion bill to HR 1005. BAD BILLS: House: HR 37 (Boehlert R-NY) - Elevate the Environmental Protection Agency to Cabinet status. This bill rewards bad behavior! It elevates the EPA when the EPA dedicates far more effort to protecting its power than protecting the environment. HR 266 (Ehlers, R-MI) National Invasive Species Council Act. Creates an entirely new federal bureaucracy and establishes an Invasive Species Council. Private citizens are prohibited from being members of the council - only federal employees are permitted. "Invasive species" are not native to an area -- like most human beings, for example. Crazy, but true -- watch out for this one! HR 524 - "Crossroads of the Revolution" National Heritage Area - Land Grab extending across much of central and northern New Jersey. HR 652 (Andrews D-NJ) - To make the Wildlands Project into official government policy - the politically correct name is National Forest Ecosystem Protection Program. Ruin communities in small towns and rural areas through federal land use regulation. HR 1051 (Bereuter R-NE) Would add land acquisition authority to nine more trails in the National Trails system. This would reward the federal government's bad behavior in seizing property from innocent people and paying them only a few cents per dollar of value. HR 1130 (Holt, D-NJ) Ban snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park. This may sound crazy, but don't laugh - it has 134 cosponsors, mostly clueless northeastern leftists, like Holt. Senate: S. 230 (Corzine D-NJ) same as HR 524, Heritage Area Land Grab. S. 324 (Levin D-MI) National Trail Land Acquisition Authority. Companion land grab legislation to HR 1051. S. 476 (Grassley, R-IA) 25% Tax Favoritism for Land Trusts (see Alert above). S. 536 (DeWine, R-OH) Creates a National Invasive Species Council. Companion bill to HR 266. S. 651 (Allard R-CO) National Trails Land Acquisition Act. Expands the federal governments power to seize property along arbitrarily drawn "trails." Also has no restrictions against federal agencies claiming authority over adjacent private property as "buffer zones" and claiming "viewshed restrictions" over everything that can be seen from a trail! Mike Hardiman was Policy Director for Congressman, now Resources Committee Chairman, Richard Pombo from 1993 to 1999. He is President of Hardiman Consulting, a lobbying and public relations firm based in Washington, DC. He is one of the most knowledgeable and effective lobbyists in Washington on property rights and resource use issues. He can be reached at hardimanmike@aol.com. |