Roger Marshall Visits Emporia Livestock Sales During Kansas Tour
U.S. Senator Roger Marshall visited Emporia Livestock Sales on February 19 as part of his Four Corners, 50 Counties tour. He spent approximately 45 minutes at the facility, getting updates on local operations from owner Brody Peak and discussing agricultural policy, according to KVOE.
Murray reacted to the visit on social media. "Breaking news. Reportedly, there's been a Roger Marshall sighting here in Kansas," Murray said. "The news media is reporting that Roger was in Emporia meeting with a cattle farm."
Marshall's visits to Kansas have become notable in part because of how infrequent they have been. The Four Corners, 50 Counties tour represents a concentrated effort to visit communities across the state, but it comes at a time when Kansas farming families are dealing with a 70 percent regional surge in farm bankruptcies, rural hospital closures, and the economic fallout from tariff policy.
What Marshall Discussed in Emporia
During the stop, Marshall covered several policy areas. He cited the Working Family Tax Cut bill as a positive for agriculture. He said recent trade agreements would help the overall agricultural economy. He also described the current economy as still working through inflationary pressure from the previous administration.
Marshall also discussed estate tax planning. In remarks captured during his tour, Marshall described how his own family estate is structured to take advantage of federal tax provisions. "That's what we did with basically my estate. He just put it all in the kid's name already. It's an S corp. And so the 20% deduction goes right off the top. So we're not paying taxes on that every year," Marshall said.
The 20 percent deduction Marshall referenced is the qualified business income deduction created by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The provision allows owners of pass through businesses, including S corporations, partnerships, and limited liability companies, to deduct up to 20 percent of their qualified business income from their federal tax bill. The deduction was designed to give pass through business owners a tax benefit comparable to the corporate rate reduction in the same law.