TSCRA Government and Public Affairs Weekly Roundup: Work on tax reform, fever ticks & NAFTA

TSCRA Government and Public Affairs staff are continuing to engage in tax reform legislation in Washington. The House passed its version of the tax overhaul yesterday, and the Senate version received approval from their Finance Committee. For more, you can read TSCRA’s statement here.
TSCRA staff also traveled to Kingsville this week to participate in a Cattle Fever Tick Forum held at the Kleberg Wildlife Center. TSCRA provided a report on recent fever tick activities and the current legislative climate.
On Tuesday, staff attended TSCRA’s final ranch gathering of the year in San Angelo and provided a legislative update for attendees. Ranch gatherings will resume after the holidays, so be sure to keep an eye out for events in your area!
NAFTA has also been a priority this week, with the fifth round of talks beginning today in Mexico City. TSCRA signed a joint letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross detailing the importance of NAFTA to Texas agriculture producers and rebuffing claims that harm to American agriculture from a potential NAFTA withdrawal are overstated. The letter says, in part:
“The U.S. food and agricultural industry supports more than 21 million jobs from coast-to-coast, provides more manufacturing jobs than any other U.S. manufacturing sector, and accounts for 20 percent of the U.S. economy… We respectfully submit that notification of NAFTA withdrawal would cause immediate, substantial harm to American food and agriculture industries and to the U.S. economy as a whole.”