It’s not uncommon for an outgoing administration to push forward with rules during their final days in office. However, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives President and CEO Chuck Conner says there’s a tremendous backlog of regulations and rules pending at the Federal Register right now. “We’re in the closing hours of the Trump administration and this time is different from others. Generally speaking, there’s a grace period where administrations try not to load up at the end on things except one or two important items. That’s not the case here.” Last Thursday, the Internal Revenue Service released a final rule on how farm income from cooperatives should be handled for tax purposes. Conner says the timing is unfortunate. “In the case of the local cooperative CHS, there’s a non-member business important, especially on the energy side. This is impactful. Why at this time would the administration take this action?”
