Ernst Champions Opportunities for Future Farmers and Manufacturers

STORM LAKE, Iowa – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, led a roundtable discussion on her bipartisan Modernizing Agricultural and Manufacturing Bonds Act (MAMBA) that will expand opportunities for first-time farmers and small to mid-size manufacturers.

The legislation will modernize the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) rules for Industrial Development Bonds (IDBs) and First-Time Farmer Bonds (Aggie Bonds) and provide new financing opportunities for beginning farmers and small-scale manufacturers. Iowa leads the nation in use of Aggie Bonds, but the rules for IDBs and Aggie Bonds have not been updated in nearly 30 years.

“It’s time to cut the red tape and give our farmers, small manufacturers, and rural lenders room to grow. My bipartisan MAMBA legislation’s commonsense updates will do that by driving new investment and making it easier for beginning farmers and manufacturers to access capital and grow their businesses,” said Senator Ernst. “Iowa leads the nation in using Aggie Bonds, and I appreciate the folks who joined me to share their insights as I work to get this bill across the finish line.”

Download photos from the event here.

Today, Ernst was joined by:

• Tammy Nebola, Ag Development Program Specialist, Iowa Finance Authority
• Jayme Ungs, Iowa Ag Development Division Board Member, Peoples Bank
• Kevin Boyle, Iowa Ag Development Division Board Member, Templeton Savings Bank
• Eric Weuve, Organizer of the Iowa Bankers Association Ag Lending Program, Iowa State Extension
• Makayla Gallentine, Advocacy and Policy Coordinator, Iowa Bankers Association
• Mike Gathman, CEO, Community Bankers of Iowa

Ernst’s MAMBA legislation has earned overwhelming support:

"We applaud Senator Ernst for introducing the Modernizing Agricultural and Manufacturing Bonds Act," said David Howard, Policy Development Director at the National Young Farmers Coalition. "Access to land--the number one challenge for this new generation of farmers and ranchers--is inextricably linked to credit accessibility. Aggies bonds provide a win-win mechanism that affords tax free interest to private agricultural lenders, on lower interest loans made to beginning farmers. This proposed legislation will make several commonsense updates to this important credit accessibility tool."

“We are thrilled that MAMBA has been reintroduced in the U.S. Senate with bipartisan support. With our country facing great economic opportunity, it has become clear that investments in farmers and manufacturers are necessary to strengthen the United States’ global competitiveness. By updating the 40-year-old rules around agricultural and manufacturing bonds, MAMBA allows for the innovative financing tools necessary to invest in local communities by expanding and growing American manufacturing and farming,” said Toby Rittner, President & CEO of the Council of Development Finance Agencies. “Senators Ernst and Warner have been great champions of farmers and manufacturers and the development finance industry as a whole, and I am thankful for their commitment to those key pillars of the U.S. economy.”

“The BDA supports the reintroduction of the Modernizing Agricultural and Manufacturing Bonds Act (MAMBA). This commonsense and bipartisan legislation will embolden small manufacturers and first-time farmers in a time when investment in rural America is needed more than ever,” said the Bond Dealers of America. “It has been over 30 years since these bonds have been modernized, causing stagnation in these respective industries.  We call on Congress to advance this overdue legislation.”

“The Independent Community Banks of America (ICBA) supports the Modernizing Agricultural and Manufacturing Bonds Act (MAMBA) and applauds its introduction by Senators Ernst and Warner. This legislation modernizes industrial development bonds and first-time farmer bonds by updating, for the first time in 30 years, the Internal Revenue Code’s treatment of IDBs for small manufacturers and aggie bonds for beginning farmers,” said Rebeca Romero Rainey, ICBA President and CEO. “These changes allow community banks to better serve these market segments that are vitally important to our local rural economies by providing customers more flexible and larger financing and lower-cost credit options.”

“MAMBA will support the flow of investment to small and medium-size manufacturing companies across the American heartland, bringing the program of Industrial Development Bonds and Aggie Bonds into the 21st Century,” said Julius Krein, Chair of the Board of Directors of the New American Industrial Alliance. “NAIA encourages the reindustrialization of the American economy at all levels and in all sectors, especially in financing the development of productive capacity.”

Read the full bill – supported by Senators Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) – here.

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