Overturning Harmful Biden-era Regulations

The last administration implemented a number of regulations that would unnecessarily increase costs for businesses and consumers. For example, I just voted to reverse two of these regulations that would impact businesses like restaurants and grocery stores.

One rule set new energy efficiency and conservation standards for the main components of walk-in coolers and walk-in refrigerators. The Department of Energy estimates that these new standards would cost the grocery store and convenience store industry at least $960 million to comply with. This could lead to grocery stores closing down, which could create additional “food deserts” in rural areas. 

The other rule set similar standards for commercial refrigerators and coolers, like those used in the restaurant industry. The Department of Energy estimates that the rule will cost $8 billion to the industries that use these units. This rule could even result in food safety risks, as the test procedures the Department of Energy put in place were unrealistic. For example, their estimate of the number of times these refrigerators are open were not reflective of a busy restaurant so, in practice, the interior of the appliance could rise above safe food-storage conditions.

The last administration had its blinders on when it came to the Green New Deal, and they were willing to hurt our businesses, and potentially our food safety, to achieve it. Congress and the Trump administration are putting a stop to the madness.

Saving IRS Costs for Gig Economy Workers

Millions of people use third-party apps to make financial transactions. It's a great solution for those working in e-commerce or in the gig economy. These platforms are used for anything from a plumbing or electrical contract job to a band hired for an event to a furniture sale. 

Up until the 2021 tax year, e-commerce and gig economy platforms did not need to provide a 1099-K tax form unless the independent contractor earned at least $20,000 on over 200 separate transactions. In Democrats’ American Rescue Plan (ARP), they included a provision to lower this threshold to $600, with no minimum on the number of transactions. (They then conveniently and illegally altered and delayed the implementation of their own bad policy because they knew it would hurt them to send millions of new tax forms in an election year.)

I have sponsored the Saving Gig Economy Taxpayers Act to reverse this bad policy and reset the 1099-K threshold. This bill also addresses backup withholding, which under the Democrat policy required apps and platforms to charge their customers more to satisfy the IRS. If this bill is signed into law, these platforms would be exempt from this burdensome practice, easing costs for customers.

Tax Credits for Rural Investors

The New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) is a nonrefundable tax credit to encourage private capital investors to make their investments in eligible low-income communities. There have been 57 NMTC projects in the 7th District that have been so beneficial to our communities, including a soy processing plant in Dawson and an ethanol plant in Fergus Falls. The district has been allocated almost $350 million, which have resulted in $500 million in total investment. 

The NMTC program, enacted in 2000, is currently authorized to allocate $91 billion through the end of 2025. I am a proud cosponsor of the New Market Tax Credit Extension Act, which would make this credit permanent. 

Strengthening American Innovation and R&D Competitiveness

In 1954, Congress created a provision that gave companies two options for recovering their "research and experimental expenses" (REEs). These are expenses like the wages and salaries of researchers, the cost of materials and supplies used in qualified research, and the cost of operating and maintaining research facilities. One option was to deduct the entire amount of these kinds of expenses in the year when they were paid or incurred, a treatment known as expensing. The second option was to capitalize REEs and gradually write off the initial cost, an action called amortizing, over a period of five or more years. Congress added a third option in 2004, when it established an opportunity for companies to amortize REEs over 10 years.

In 2017, Congress repealed the option to expense REEs immediately, effective after December 31, 2021. That means companies are currently required to capitalize those costs and amortize them over a number of years. I have heard from companies across the Seventh District that this change has made it more difficult for them to effectively use the deduction. That is why I cosponsored the American Innovation and R&D Competitiveness Act of 2025, which would allow them to capitalize these costs immediately.

Investing in Rural America

Rural communities across the country are struggling to retain population, much less attract future generations. One way Congress can support them is by eliminating unnecessary regulatory barriers to capital investment, particularly on critical community facilities like hospitals, childcare centers, and senior care centers. My Investing in Rural America Act would do just that by eliminating unnecessary regulatory barriers to capital investment. Specifically, this legislation encourages investment in rural communities by: 

• Restoring and codifying farm credit institutions' (FCI) eligibility to finance essential rural facilities in partnership with local lenders and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Community Facilities Loan and Grant Program,
• Placing explicit guardrails around FCI's lending authorities in financing essential community facilities, including a requirement to offer participation with at least one non-FCI lending institution on any potential project, and
• Requiring a report to Congress on the projects undertaken by FCIs, including the partnerships established between lending institutions for such projects.

I am proud to introduce bills that attract private sector investment in these kinds of facilities, strengthening our rural communities and encouraging future generations to see them as home. 

Thank you for reading!

fischbach.house.gov

Unsubscribe