Legislative Activity House to Vote on Repealing Medical Device Tax House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announced last week that the House plans to take up legislation to eliminate the excise tax on medical devices during the week of June 15. The Protect Medical Innovation Act (H.R. 160), which was introduced by Representative Erik Paulsen … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Finding a Way to Fund the Nation’s Highways…The Debate Continues Prior to adjourning for the Memorial Day recess, lawmakers passed legislation that extended highway funding authority for a two-month period through July 31. Now, with Congress set to return to Washington this week, lawmakers will yet again be tasked within finding a way to … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House, Senate Set to Move on Short-Term Highway Funding Extension As tax-writers continue their push for tax reform this Congress, the focus this week will shift to providing a short-term extension of funding for the Highway Trust Fund. In the Senate, Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Environmental and Public Works Committee … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Lawmakers Press Onward with Tax Reform Efforts; Tax Extenders, Highway Funding Coming Into Focus With tax-writers having moved trade legislation out of their respective committees, the Senate Finance Committee’s Tax Reform Working Groups have begun to hold roundtables to brief their colleagues on the status of their work and to receive initial feedback. … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House and Senate Budget Conference The House and Senate budget conference committee will hold a public conference meeting on Monday, as they attempt to negotiate a joint agreement on a fiscal 2016 budget resolution that can pass both houses of Congress. Most of the Committee’s upcoming negotiations will take place in private, and … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Republicans Focus on Small Businesses, Democrats Target Tax “Loopholes” Following a busy week for tax-writers – which included several hearings on “Tax Day” to address tax reform and the potential impact on small businesses – there is growing discussion about the possibility of pursuing business-only tax reform. To that end, Senate Finance Committee … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Ways and Means Votes to Permanently Extend Seven Tax Extenders, Finance Zeroes in on Getting to Tax Reform On Wednesday, February 3, the House Ways and Means Committee held a markup of seven bills to permanently extend certain tax provisions, including section 179 business expensing and various charitable provisions. During the 113th Congress, … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity President Obama to Unveil FY 2016 Budget Later today, President Obama is set to unveil his FY 2016 Budget (Budget). We anticipate that the Budget will include various proposals previewed in President Obama’s State of the Union Address. Squire Patton Boggs will release a comprehensive Budget analysis in the days following. Senate Finance … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity President Obama, Secretary Lew Outline Tax Reform Proposals As mentioned in previous coverage of the State of the Union Address, President Obama has proposed approximately $320 billion in new taxes, aimed largely at investment income and large financial institutions, with revenues raised from these proposals to be dedicated principally to a new or … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Hatch, Ryan Announce Priorities for Tax Writing Committees Last week, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) announced their committees’ priorities for the 114th Congress. With respect to tax reform, Chairman Hatch indicated that any overhaul of the tax Code must make it … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Passes Highway Funding Bill, Senate Prepares to Vote on Legislation Last week, the House voted 367-55 to pass H.R. 5021, the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2014. The bill would patch and reauthorize the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) through May 2015 by using transfers from the General Fund and the Leaking Underground Storage … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Finance Committee Aims to Markup Highway Funding Bill While not yet noticed, the Senate Finance Committee is expected to markup a short-term highway funding bill before the week-long July 4 holiday recess; however, it is possible that the markup will slip until Congress returns the week of July 7. While disagreements remain … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Finance Committee Outlines Path Forward on Tax Reform On June 5, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-UT) announced the Committee’s next steps with regard to comprehensive tax reform. As part of its efforts, the Committee will hold three hearings during June and July focused on: … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Wyden Planning Extenders Markup in Early April Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) is planning to hold a markup of a tax extenders package sometime in early April. While an official date has yet to be announced, there has been suggestion that Chairman Wyden is planning to hold the markup on April … Continue Reading
Tax Legislative Activity Uncertainty as to Timing on Extenders While Senate Democrats have suggested the possibility of taking up tax extenders early this year, Senate Republicans, including Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-UT), have indicated that movement on a bill may not occur within such an ambitious timeframe. The House has not shown … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Tax Writing Committee Continues Meetings on Reform The Senate Finance Committee has continued its series of closed-door Committee meetings on tax reform, recently issuing its tenth and final option paper on non-income tax issues and related reforms. A list of all the option papers published is available here. Senate Finance Committee Chairman … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) filed cloture on the motion to proceed to debate on the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (S. 744) last Thursday, and the Senate will vote on the motion on Tuesday, June 11. Majority Leader Reid plans to allow an open amendment process and up … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate The Senate Judiciary Committee voted the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (S. 744) out of committee on May 22 by a vote of 13-5. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) expects to open Senate floor debate the week of Monday, June 10, and plans to hold a vote three … Continue Reading
