With Congress back in session following its August recess, one agenda item stands above the rest in terms of priority: tax reform. After several failed attempts at repealing the Affordable Care Act earlier this year, and with few other major achievements nearly nine months into the 115th Congress, Republicans are in need of a win … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity The House With the 115th Congress entering month three, tax reform continues to be a focal point of the political debate in Washington. Intent to move forward with their tax reform “Blueprint” released in June 2016, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX), and other tax-writers have … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Lawmakers Look at Specific Tax Policy Priorities with an Eye Toward Tax Reform in 2017 With the House last week having passed various targeted pieces of tax legislation, it is clear that much of the rest of this Congress will be devoted to more narrow asks, though continued efforts in anticipation of tax … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity No Trucking Rider in Continuing Resolution The current fiscal year ends on September 30, and Congress will need to pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) to continue funding the federal government. The Senate is expected to vote on a CR that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) introduced last week that does not include a … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Continuing Resolution Likely, with Potential Trucking Rider The current fiscal year ends on September 30, and Congress will need to pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) to continue funding the federal government. The Senate is expected to pass a CR this week that would fund the federal government through December 9. That approach would … Continue Reading
Congress to Continue Focus on Appropriations The current fiscal year ends on September 30, and Congress will need to pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) in the next few weeks to continue funding the federal government. Last week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) proposed advancing a CR that would extend funding for the federal government … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House to Vote on Financial Services Appropriations Bill as Hensarling Pushes Plan to Replace Dodd-Frank This week, the House is expected to consider the FY 2017 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, which passed out of Committee largely along partisan lines and contains various provisions that would peel back certain aspects of … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Coming Soon: The GOP’s Tax Reform “Blueprint” With House Republicans expected to roll out their comprehensive tax “blueprint” this month – and lawmakers set to leave Washington on Friday, June 24 – it is likely that we will see the proposal released this week. It is quite possible, however, that the final product may … Continue Reading
Senate Legislative Activity The Senate will convene on Monday, March 7, at 3:00pm. Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 4:00pm, with Senators permitted to speak up to 10 minutes each. At 4:00pm, the Senate will resume consideration of S.524, Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2015. … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity With Tax Extenders (Mostly) Behind Them, Tax-Writers Likely to Focus on International Tax Reform With Congress (somewhat unexpectedly) having enacted permanent tax extender legislation prior to adjourning the first session of the 114th Congress, tax-writers are now expected to move forward with their efforts on international tax reform – though the substance and … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Budget Negotiations Continue Amidst Busy Congressional Calendar Budget negotiations between staff for Republican leadership, the White House, and Democrats are ongoing, but there have been few signs of progress. Democrats have recently announced they will not accept changes to entitlements as part of a budget deal to increase government spending, increasing the likelihood … 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 Budget Negotiations Begin Recently, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) began discussions with President Barack Obama on a budget deal. The three of them participated in a conference call to lay the foundation for negotiations, and while Majority Leader McConnell reportedly pushed to keep Democratic Leadership in … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity International Tax Reform-Highway Funding Negotiations Stall Following months of coordination between House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) and senior Senate Finance Committee member Chuck Schumer (D-NY) regarding tying international tax reform to highway funding, aides for the two lawmakers last week announced that negotiations had stalled as a result of … 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 Senate Appropriations Process Stalled for Foreseeable Future Both the House and Senate are on schedule to finish voting all 12 appropriations bills out of committee, which if successful would be the first time in six years. However, the process is likely to remain stalled in the Senate, as Senate Democrats are expected to … 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 Appropriations Process Stalls as Democrats Look to Force a Budget Deal The Senate appropriations process has stalled, and it is unclear how Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will proceed this week. Last Thursday, Senate Democrats followed through with their announced strategy to stop appropriations bills from reaching the Senate floor by … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Democrats Continue to Push for a Budget Deal In the coming weeks, Senate Democrats will implement a strategy intended to force Republicans into a budget deal. Senate Democratic leadership does not want to rely on President Obama’s vetoes of appropriations bills to force Republicans into negotiations, and will likely prevent any appropriations … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Joins House in Appropriations Effort Senate Appropriators begin work on their FY 2016 spending bills this week, with subcommittee markups scheduled Tuesday for the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs and Energy-Water appropriations bills. Committee Chairman Thad Cochran (R-MS) has not publicly revealed how he apportions the mandated topline discretionary funding level of $1.07 trillion … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Democrats Continue to Push for a Budget Deal The President and Democrats in the House and Senate continue to pressure Republicans for a budget deal to replace the sequester’s strict spending limits. Most House Democrats voted against the two sequester-level appropriations bills that were recently considered on the House floor, President Obama has … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House and Senate Committees to Mark Up Budget Resolutions; How Will Congress Deal with the Sequester? The House and Senate Budget Committees will hold markup hearings this week on their respective Budget Resolutions. The House Committee will mark up its resolution on Wednesday, while the Senate Committee will hold markup hearings on both … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity DHS Funding Deadline Days Away With days before U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding expires on February 27, Congress appears no closer to resolving the partisan impasse. The Senate has set aside time Monday to vote on the House version of the spending bill (H.R. 240), but it remains to be seen … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Lawmakers Request EPA to Revise Corn Ethanol Volume Targets On Thursday, January 16, a bipartisan group of 30 House members sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requesting the agency to reverse course on its latest proposal to revise the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volume obligations for corn ethanol. In the … Continue Reading
