Build Back Better Bill Negotiations To Continue Into New Year

The Senate failed to take action on President Biden’s Build Back Better legislation, which passed the House in November, but negotiations are expected to continue when Congress returns in January. The bill includes a huge boost in funding for forestry programs to address climate change and left out most of the more controversial tax provisions that had been under consideration.

The proposed taxes that might have been harmful to landowners—most importantly, a hike in the capital gains rates and the elimination of the step-up basis and imposition of capital gains tax on appreciated assets—were excluded.

The bill allocates more than $27 billion to forestry programs in both the public and private sector to improve forest health, restore forests, fight wildfires, and boost carbon sequestration. There is also $22 billion in new funding for conservation programs to provide technical and financial assistance to private forest landowners and farmers to assist in implementing activities on their land that result in improvement of soil carbon, reduction of nitrogen losses, and the reduction and/or capture of greenhouse gas emissions.

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