Legislative Activity AIRR Act Delayed Amid ATC Reform Opposition The House is unlikely to consider the Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act on the floor this week amid opposition from Democrats, Republican appropriators, and some Republican members of the House Ways and Means Committee. The AIRR Act would reauthorize Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) programs … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity AIRR Act’s ATC Reform Faces Diverse Opposition The Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster’s (R-PA) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization bill, faces diverse opposition to its air traffic control (ATC) reform provisions. The AIRR Act would remove ATC from the federal government and transfer … 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 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 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 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
Legislative Activity Reid, Paul Working on Repatriation Bill to Fund Transportation Infrastructure On June 10, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) indicated that they are working on legislation that would allow corporations to repatriate foreign earnings at lower rates, suggesting that this revenue could be used to fund improvements to … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Ways and Means Marks Up Six More Tax Bills, Expected to Continue Work on Extenders Through Summer On May 29, the House Ways and Means Committee held a markup of six bills (four extenders and two new provisions) seeking to make the following tax provisions permanent: (1) conservation contributions; (2) IRA distributions; (3) … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Tax Extenders Bill Stalls in Senate, Timing Now Unclear On May 15, the Senate was unable to garner the 60 votes needed to end debate on tax extenders legislation. The bill, which would provide a two-year extension for certain tax extenders that expired on January 1, stalled as a result of Republican concerns … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate to Take Up Temporary Tax Extenders Package; House Takes Different Approach During the week of May 12, the Senate is expected to take up the EXPIRE Act (S. 2260), which provides a two-year extension for certain tax extenders, which expired on January 1. The Senate’s approach for dealing with tax extenders differs … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House to Vote on Legislation to Permanently Extend R&D Tax Credit During the week of May 5, the House of Representatives is set to vote on H.R. 4438, the “American Research and Competitiveness Act of 2014,” which is one of six bills considered during the House Ways and Means Committee’s markup of certain … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Ways and Means to Hold Markup of Six Extender Bills On Tuesday, April 29, the House Ways and Means Committee will hold a markup of six bills to permanently extend the business tax provisions discussed in the Committee’s hearing on April 8. The bills are: HR 4429, “To amend the Internal Revenue Code … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Ways and Means Committee to Hold First Hearing on Tax Extenders; Finance Committee Passes Tax Extenders Bill On Tuesday, April 8, the House Ways and Means Committee will hold its first hearing on tax extenders to consider those expired provisions that should be made permanent or provided long-term extensions. This will likely be … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Wyden, Camp to Take Next Steps on Tax Extenders On March 24, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) sent a memo to his Committee members regarding next steps on tax reform. In the memo, Chairman Camp suggests that the Committee will: (1) continue its efforts to educate Members and stakeholders; … 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
Legislative Activity Camp Releases Tax Reform Discussion Draft On February 26, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) released his long-awaited plan for comprehensive tax reform. The Patton Boggs analysis of Chairman Camp’s discussion draft is available here. This Week’s Hearings: Tuesday, March 4: The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing titled, “Exploring Alternative Solutions … Continue Reading
Executive and Legislative Branch Activity Iran As of last Friday, January 10, the bipartisan Senate bill (S. 1881) to increase sanctions on Iran had reportedly garnered a filibuster-proof majority – at least 60 Members supporting it. While speculation is high as to when the bill will come to the Senate floor, many expect the bill … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Chairman Camp Announces Tax Reform Delay House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) stated last week that comprehensive tax reform legislation will not be circulated this year. The Chairman had aimed to release a comprehensive reform draft this year for markup in committee, but other occurrences like the government shutdown had slowed … Continue Reading
Executive and Legislative Branch Activity Budget and the Debt Ceiling Debate With no congressional consensus on a bill to fund the U.S. federal government for FY 2014, on Tuesday, October 1, the U.S. government partially shut down. Last week, the House attempted to advance its strategy of passing “mini” continuing resolutions (CR) to fund parts … Continue Reading
