Rep. Mann: 'Big, beautiful bill' helps Kansas ag and K-State animal health research

“I’ve never had a bill that I’ve voted for that I had so many people come up to me and say, ‘Thank you,’” Mann said. “If you look at what it does from a tax policy standpoint, when you look at how it invests in agriculture, when you look at what it does to secure the border, it’s very popular throughout Kansas, especially throughout the first district.”

The bill allowed Kansas to minimize the estate tax. Mann said the state was able to set the exclusion to amount for estate taxes to $15 per person, or $30 million per couple.

“That’s a really good thing, to minimize the estate tax,” Mann said. “I’d like to eliminate the death tax altogether, but providing for an exemption this high is going to be really helpful for our families as they’re trying to pass down the family farm.”

Mann said this bill funds animal health research. Mann is a member of the health committee and chairman of the livestock, dairy and poultry subcommittee.

“Manhattan is really home to the crown jewels of many leading the way for animal health research, with NBAF (National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility), with the K-State School of (Veterinary) Medicine, with the Biosecurity Research Institute,” Mann said. “World renowned research is being done. We need to support that. We need to be sure we are focusing on disease prevention instead of just managing outbreaks after they happen.”

Mann expressed his support for the work K-State does, especially in animal health sciences.

“Everyone’s for America being healthy,” Mann said. “We’ve got to follow the science. We’ve got to make sure that we’re using good and accurate science as we’re thinking about our food supply. We know that K-State is doing that specifically on animal health research and I support them. I will continue to support that.”