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One Big Bill, One Big Win for Small Business

Everyone knows the One Big Beautiful Bill—But Did You Know It Included Making the 20% Small Business Tax Deduction Permanent?

Congress has passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and tucked inside is a major win for small businesses: the permanent extension of the 20% Small Business Tax Deduction.

What’s the Deduction?

The deduction—originally created in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act—allows small business owners organized as pass-through entities (such as S-corps, partnerships, and sole proprietorships) to deduct up to 20% of their qualified business income from federal taxes. Without action, the deduction was set to expire at the end of 2025, leading to a significant tax hike for millions of small businesses.

Highlights

- The deduction is now permanent, giving business owners long-term certainty.

- The Act also includes other provisions that benefit small businesses, including:

• Doubling the Section 179 expensing cap to $2.5 million.

• Effective January 1, 2026, is increasing and making permanent the Small Business Estate Tax Exemption ($15M individual / $30M joint).

Why It Matters

By making the 20% Small Business Deduction permanent, Congress has locked in a top priority for small business advocates and ensured ongoing relief for millions of Main Street employers.

Some propane marketers have asked us whether their LPG scales must be inspected every year. According to the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA), the answer is no.

Here’s what the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) clarified:

• Hopper scales (used to weigh bulk ag products) must be inspected by a TDA inspector once every four years.
• Small scales used at propane facilities do not fall under this four-year calibration interval.
• Propane facility scales only need to be calibrated by a licensed service company if:
• It’s a new installation before being put into service.
• A TDA inspector tags it out of service.
• It is not operating according to the manufacturer’s specifications.

In short, for propane facilities, once your scale is initially inspected and put into service, you’re covered—unless TDA later inspects and removes it from service.

Referrals

We often get calls asking, “Who do we recommend for meter and scale calibration?”

If you have a trusted licensed service technician that does your meter and scale inspection, you recommend, please share their contact information with us at jmason@txpropane.com so we can update our referral list for members.

FMCSA Considers Pilot to Pause 14-Hour Rule
NPGA Seeking Feedback on Parameters

FMCSA is proposing a new pilot program that would let property-carrying CDL drivers pause their 14-hour duty window for up to 3 hours.

For drivers, this could mean that time spent waiting for product pickup or other idle delays wouldn’t eat into the 14-hour limit — giving more flexibility for actual driving time.

Idle time at a terminal or customer site could be treated as a pause, not part of the 14-hour window.

• Drivers would still be required to take 10 consecutive hours off-duty at the end of the day and follow weekly 60/70-hour limits.

Important:

• This is only a proposal at this stage. FMCSA is collecting comments and has not yet launched the pilot.
• When the program is finalized, FMCSA will look for 256 CDL drivers nationwide to participate, and will monitor them through smartwatches, electronic logging device (ELD) records and other data collection.
• Other pilots have struggled without enough participants, so propane’s involvement will be critical if this program moves forward to launch.

Next Steps. If you have comments on the proposed paraments of the pilot program, please reach out to Ben Nussdorf with NPGA at bnussdorf@npga.org.

Just to reiterate, the program is currently only a proposal, and FMCSA and NPGA are just accepting comments at this time.

Full Schedule

Monday, October 13, 2025

• 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM: Cargo Tank (CT) Inspection Training
  
• Lunch Provided – RSVP Required – Training is open to members & non-members

Tuesday, October 14, 2025

• 9:00 – 10:00 AM: Executive Committee Meeting
• 10:00 – 11:00 AM: Finance Committee Meeting
• 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM: Meetings & Convention Planning Meeting
• 12:00 – 1:15 PM: Hosted Lunch & Presentation by Rinnai – Heat-Pump Helper
• 1:30 – 2:30 PM: Scholarship Meeting
• 2:30 – 3:30 PM: T&S Committee Meeting
• 4:00 – 5:45 PM: Happy Hour – SpringHill Suites Bar
• 6:00 – 8:00 PM: Dinner at Culpepper’s Steak House

Wednesday, October 15, 2025

• 9:00 – 11:00 AM: Annual Business Meeting & Board of Directors Meeting

• Agenda: Annual Business Meeting, Financials, Meetings/Convention Update, Executive Director’s Report, Old & New Business, Supplier Board Member Swear-In

Thank you to our meeting sponsors

Want to Sponsor? Showcase your company. Only (2)sponsorships left. Sponsor our popular member dinner. Email cshook@txpropane.com to sponsor.

Post jobs or search CDL, service tech, and other candidates now at our Texas Job Board

Find all the compliance items you are looking for at your one-stop shop, Propane Service Corporation.

TEXAS PROPANE GAS ASSOCIATION

8408 North Interstate 35​

Austin, TX 78753

Email: info@txpropane.com

Tel: 800-325-7427

Fax: 1-512-834-0758

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