With the House of Representatives and Senate deadlocked over competing versions of police reform legislation, a divided Washington has failed, at least for the moment, to heed the national call for action on racial injustices that emerged from the killing of citizen George Floyd. The division could portend failure ahead on other urgent matters of … Continue Reading
America’s top monetary policy official, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell, is urging the US Congress to extend the enhanced unemployment benefits approved this spring that are set to expire at the end of July, intensifying a policy debate that will be pivotal to the negotiations next month that will determine the next phase in … Continue Reading
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who has been the lead domestic policy negotiator for President Donald Trump and his administration during the COVID-19 crisis, made clear in testimony Wednesday to congressional lawmakers that the White House believes passage of another major coronavirus response package will be necessary soon, notwithstanding a generally positive national jobs report … Continue Reading
The United States has experienced a sharp increase in the number of new reported cases of coronavirus over the past week, but Beltway media coverage and the policy debate in Washington this week are largely centered on the potential for action in both chambers of the US Congress on police reform legislation. Republicans, emboldened by … Continue Reading
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 Pressing Forward with Tax Reform Prior to last week’s Memorial Day recess, both the House Ways & Means and Senate Finance Committees held hearings, which focused on the state of tax reform. First, in their hearings reviewing the President’s FY 2018 Budget Proposal, tax-writers focused on various issues, including: (1) the timing and … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Ways and Means Committee Kicks Off Tax Reform Efforts with First Public Hearings On Thursday, May 18, the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing titled “How Tax Reform Will Grow Our Economy and Create Jobs.” The hearing – which is the first in what is expected to be a series of … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Tax-Writers Hold Two-Day Meeting on Tax Reform Today, Monday, May 1, House Ways and Means Committee Republicans will continue their two-day meeting to reach a consensus on tax reform – a task that comes amidst the release of the Trump Administration’s tax reform principles (discussed further below). As senior House tax-writer Devin … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Brady May Be Open to “Significant Modifications” on BAT as the Trump Administration Takes More Active Role in the Tax Reform Debate As the health care reform debate continues to unfold, congressional tax-writers are preparing to move forward swiftly with their tax reform efforts. Though House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) has … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Starts Talking Tax Reform, Advances Mnuchin Nomination As House tax-writers continue to move forward with their tax reform “Blueprint” – and work to address a myriad of concerns that have arisen (i.e., border adjustability) – various Senate Finance Committee Members last week began to lay the groundwork for their approach to tax … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity GOP Sets Out Timeline for Tax Reform Last week, Republican lawmakers traveled to Philadelphia for a retreat to discuss their priorities for the 115th Congress. Among the top priorities for the GOP: tax reform. According to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), the House will turn its full time and attention to tax reform … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Border Adjustability in the Spotlight Though healthcare and repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act have thus far been the primary focus of the tax-writing committees this Congress, policymakers are still continuing to move forward with tax reform. Among the proposals in the House Republicans’ tax reform “Blueprint” receiving the most attention in recent weeks … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Republicans Discuss the Future of Obamacare After six years of complaining about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) it is time for Republicans to take action, however a divide on how to tackle the law has developed. There are Republican members who prefer a transition to the new system of health … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Many Tax Policy Priorities Outstanding as Congress Looks to Home Stretch With Congress back in Washington for several weeks of work before adjourning in advance of the November Election, tax-writers have much work in store – though the lack of legislative days, coupled with the complex and divisive nature of some of the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity The Long March to Tax Reform Continues On June 24, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) released the House GOP’s Task Force on Tax Reform’s long-awaited tax reform “Blueprint,” which lays out the GOP’s tax policy agenda for 2017. Specifically, and as we discuss in greater detail in our alert, … 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
Legislative Activity Tax Reform Discussions Persist, Proposals Due Out This Month House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) remains focused on efforts to overhaul the U.S. tax Code and is expected to release his tax reform “blueprint” this month. He recently stated that he anticipates continuing to concentrate efforts on the blueprint “through … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity As June Nears, Tax-Writers Press Forward with Tax Reform Proposals Following last week’s Senate Finance Committee hearing to discuss Chairman Orrin Hatch’s (R-UT) “corporate integration” proposal as relates to the pros and cons of a dividends paid deduction regime, this week, on Tuesday, May 24, the Committee will hold its second in a … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Opioid Bills Slated for House Floor Consideration This week, the House of Representatives will consider 11 bills focused on combatting the opioid crisis. The legislation being considered will act as House companion legislation to S. 524, the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), which passed the Senate in March. The bills being considered … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Congressional Tax-Writers Press on With Tax Reform Proposals This week, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Tax Policy, chaired by Representative Charles Boustany (R-LA), will hold a hearing to examine Member proposals to improve the current U.S. tax system. This hearing is part of a series of hearings on tax reform and … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Congressional Republicans Place DOL’s Fiduciary Rule in Crosshairs Last week, on April 19, just one day after Senate Republicans introduced a resolution to disapprove and nullify the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Fiduciary Rule, House Republicans introduced a companion resolution also targeting the rulemaking. Two days later, on April 21, the House Education and … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate to Consider Business Tax Reform Proposals Following multiple hearings on tax reform thus far this year in the House Ways and Means Committee, this week the Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on business tax reform. During the hearing, the difference between Republican and Democrat approaches to taxing corporate income, including … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Tax –Writers Plan to Put Out Comprehensive Blueprint by June Last Friday, April 15 (i.e., Tax Day), House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) confirmed that the Tax Reform Task Force (set up earlier in the year by Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI)) plans to release a comprehensive tax reform “blueprint” by … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Tax-Writers Continue Moving Forward with Work on Tax Reform This week, on Wednesday, April 13, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Tax Policy will hold a hearing to continue the Committee’s efforts to examine “fundamental tax reform proposals.” In March, Ways and Means Committee members examined legislative proposals related to cash-flow … Continue Reading
