On one of the most bipartisan votes of the year (414-10), the United States House of Representatives approved a bill providing a number of tax breaks for small businesses-- benefiting growers, landscape firms and garden centers. Sponsored by Congressman Bill Archer (R-TX), this bill (H.R. 3448) will gradually increase the amount that firms may deduct for equipment purchases from the current level of $17,500 to $25,000 over eight years. Under current law, when businesses buy equipment, $17,500 of the cost of the purchase may be deducted immediately, with the rest depreciated over time. This deduction is available to firms that buy less than $200,000 a year in equipment. The House-passed bill would make this provision retroactive to December 31, 1995.