An Illinois Congressman has announced bipartisan legislation to help small manufacturers and family farmers get financing.
16th District Congressman Darin LaHood announced the Modernizing Manufacturing and Agricultural Bonds Act yesterday. The bill is expected to raise the maximum manufacturing bond size from $10 million to $30 million, updating the threshold for inflation and economic changes. Additionally, the bill ties future bond size increases to inflation. The bill is also expected to modernize the definition of a “manufacturing facility” to include high-tech manufacturing processes, including bio-technology, design and formula development.
The bill is also expected to eliminate restrictions that prevented bond proceeds from being used towards offices space, locker rooms, and cafeterias at small manufacturing facilities. It’s also supposed to increase the amount of bond proceeds that can go to first-time farmers from $450,000 to $1 million and allow new farmers to use bond proceeds to upgrade existing agricultural buildings and property and purchase farm equipment. The bill’s language would also align the definition of “substantial farmland” in the federal tax code with other existing laws.
LaHood said in a press release that by fixing bonds, it would help small and medium manufacturers and farmers generate good-paying jobs in the state and spur economic development. LaHood says use of these type of bonds has declined due to their outdated rules and regulations.