*This is the second article in our 2022 Southwest Economic Outlook series. Hear from Oklahoma State University and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension economists about the 2022 outlook. 

After a year filled with uncertainty, the Biden administration’s flagship “human infrastructure” bill known as the Build Back Better Act (H.R. 5376) finally passed the House on November 19, 2021.  While the bill does not contain all of what the administration once envisioned, it is still more than 2,100 pages and is expected to spend an estimated $1.6 trillion over the next 10 years.   

While the bill includes a number of provisions that could indirectly impact farm and ranch families, this article focuses on the $76.9 billion dedicated explicitly to agriculture. Following are a few highlights.   

Perhaps most notable is what is not in the bill. For example, the bill does nothing to address the farm safety net, including providing relief for ongoing pressure being faced by agricultural producers through skyrocketing input costs. Perhaps most importantly, the bill did not – as was initially proposed – eliminate stepped-up basis or reduce the estate tax exemption levels established in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (P.L. 115–97).  

While most of the agricultural improvements in this bill are aimed at addressing long-run challenges posed by climate change, most of these increases appear to be temporary in nature, with authority generally terminating in 2026.  This undoubtedly will complicate what promises to already be an extraordinarily complicated 2023 Farm Bill process. 

At the time of writing this article, Congress has agreed on a continuing resolution that will fund most of the government through February 18, 2022. The path forward is less clear for several other priority items, including passage of the National Defense Authorization Act and raising the debt ceiling.  Even if the Build Back Better Act passes the Senate, it may very well be amended and sent back to the House for additional debate.