According to the Great Falls Tribune in Montana, Sen. Max Baucus supports keeping the estate tax cut in place as part  of a broader deal to avoid the “fiscal cliff.”

“Baucus is working to preserve a reduction in estate taxes that exempts the first $5 million of an estate’s value for individuals and taxes the remainder at 35 percent,” reports the Tribune’s Malia Rulon Herman.

The estate tax is particularly important for family farmers and ranchers who want to pass on their land to their children. Without the estate tax extension, everything over $1 million of land will be taxed at 55 percent.

Baucus is the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.