Bipartisan negotiations aimed at producing the next major federal COVID-19 response legislation – delayed by more than a week of infighting between congressional Republicans and the White House – are finally underway. The baseline for the talks: HEROES vs. HEALS, pitting the US$3.5 trillion HEROES Act passed by the US House of Representatives in May … Continue Reading
Coronavirus cases in the US are surging. States are closing bars and restaurants. States, local governments, schools and private enterprises are calling upon the federal government for aid, and the US Congress is preparing to craft bipartisan emergency legislation of US$1 trillion or more. It’s March 2020 all over again – only this time, legislators … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity President Signed Five-Year Surface Transportation Reauthorization Last Friday, President Obama signed the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) into law, reauthorizing surface transportation programs for the next five years. The $305 billion bill gained widespread bipartisan support, passing the House by a vote of 359-65 and the Senate by a vote of … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House and Senate Conference Continues on Highway and Transit Bill, Conference Report May Come This Week House and Senate conferees hope to finalize an agreement on a multi-year surface transportation bill this week, as the December 4 expiration of current program authorizations quickly approaches. While the leaders of the reauthorization effort had hoped … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Lawmakers Conference Highway Bills as Tax-Writers Turn to Extenders With highway funding authorization set to expire on Friday, November 20, House and Senate lawmakers this week will be tasked with conferencing their versions of highway funding legislation. In addition to differences in the transportation provisions, there still remains a key difference between the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House and Senate Conference Underway, Another Short-Term Extension Possible This week, the House and Senate will continue their work on conferencing their respective surface transportation reauthorization bills. While staff have been working to reconcile the bills’ differences, conferees are expected to hold their first official meeting this week. Congressional Democrats and the White … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Republicans May Select New Ways and Means Committee Chair With Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-OH) having now officially resigned from his post as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, this week it is expected that House Republicans will elect a new leader of the tax-writing committee. Presently, the race … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House To Consider Transportation Bill on Floor Both chambers passed a short-term extension last week, reauthorizing highway, highway safety, and transit programs through November 20. The House now turns to floor consideration of their six-year surface transportation bill on Wednesday. The House appears determined to make productive use of the 22-day extension. On … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House to Take Up Short-Term Highway Extension as Lawmakers Work on Tax Title for Longer-Term Bill This week, House lawmakers are set to take up a short-term extension of the Highway Trust Fund, extending the program’s authorization through November 20 in hopes that the House and Senate can come together on a longer-term … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Transportation Bill Marked-Up, But Short-Term Extension Needed Facing the October 29 expiration of surface transportation programs, the House will vote this week on a bill to extend these programs for three weeks, through November 20, buying time for the House to finish work on its six-year bill. The extension legislation also includes … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Lawmakers Schedule Markup of Transportation Bill Without Revenue Provisions Last week, on Friday, October 16, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee released a six-year, $325 billion highway funding bill (the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015); a markup of the legislation is scheduled for Thursday, October 22. Notably, while the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Releases Highway Bill, Markup Scheduled This Week On Friday, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (T&I) released its long-awaited surface transportation reauthorization bill and scheduled the markup of the bill for this Thursday, October 22. The House provides six years of authorizations from the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Tax-Writers May Punt Highway Bill…Again On July 29, just prior to adjourning, the House overwhelmingly approved a three-month compromise highway spending bill. This three-month extension, which also costs $8 billion and expires on October 29, was passed with hopes that both chambers will now have sufficient time to negotiate a compromise on tax … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Deadline for Senate Finance Committee Working Groups’ Proposals Nears, Talk of International Tax Reform Continues After being delayed for a second time, the Senate Finance Committee Tax Reform Working Groups are expected to submit their reports to the full Committee on Tuesday, July 7. Presently, it is unclear the extent to which (if … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Finance Committee Working Groups to Submit Tax Reform Proposals After having been provided additional time to finalize their proposals for consideration by the full Committee, the Senate Finance Committee Tax Reform Working Groups are due to submit their proposals by this Friday, June 26. The Working Group that appears to have made … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Congress Concerned with BEPS, International Tax Reform Moves Forward Last week, G-7 leaders (i.e., finance ministers and central bank governors from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States) met in Germany to renew their commitment to coming together on a “feasible” proposal to address base erosion and profit … 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 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 Senate to Vote on Highway Funding Bill This week, the Senate is expected to vote on H.R. 5021, the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2014, which recently passed the House by a vote of 367-55. The bill would patch and reauthorize the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) through May 2015 by using transfers … 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 House to Vote on Highway Funding Bill, Other Tax Measures This week, the House is expected to vote on H.R. 5021, the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2014. The bill, which was reported out of the Ways and Means Committee along party lines on July 10, would patch the Highway Trust Fund … 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
