All in a Late Night’s Work: Senate Passes Tax Bill
Posted on Dec 4, 2017 in News, Uncategorized
At approximately 2:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, the Senate passed its tax reform bill with a vote of 51-49. Changes to the bill, including some handwritten into the document, were made leading up to the final vote. The only Republican to vote against the bill was Senator Bob Corker who has continued concerns regarding the estimated $1+ trillion deficit over the next 10 years. Corker...
Senate May Vote on Its Tax Reform Bill as Early as Thursday, but There Are Hurdles to Overcome
At least a half dozen Republican senators have shown concern about the Senate version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, threatening the passage of the bill by the end of this year. The bill, passed out of the Senate Finance Committee on November 17, faces its next major hurdle from the Senate Budget Committee who will meet Tuesday, November 28, to add a revenue-raising measure allowing...White House Officials State Willingness to Sacrifice Health Care Provision for the Tax Reform Greater Good
Posted on Nov 20, 2017 in Insurance Tax, News
The White House Budget Director, Mick Mulvaney, indicated that the Trump Administration is willing to strike the health care provision in the Senate’s proposed tax legislation repealing the requirement that everyone in the U.S. have health insurance or pay a fine. Striking this provision would leave the Senate $338 billion short of their revenue goal and would require Republican...
Senate Bill Anticipated Later This Week; House Begins Markup of Their Tax Reform Legislation
Posted on Nov 6, 2017 in News, State and Local Tax
The House Ways and Means Committee began marking up the GOP tax bill this afternoon, and the process is expected to continue until Thursday. The markup will start with opening statements and then amendments are expected to be introduced throughout the week by Chairman Kevin Brady. With the floor open to Democrats, discussions and amendments are anticipated to focus on the...
President Trump Urges House Republicans to Adopt the Senate-Approved Budget to Speed Up Tax-Reform Process
Posted on Oct 23, 2017 in News
President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence urged House Republicans on a conference call yesterday to speed up the tax reform process by adopting the Senate-approved budget without further amendments. The chairwoman of the House Budget Committee, Rep. Diane Black, as well as Speaker Paul Ryan also voiced their support for the passage of the Senate budget this week. The end of this...
Mnuchin Discusses Tax Reform
Posted on Sep 15, 2017 in News
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, during an interview on the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” indicated that tax reform would be revenue neutral under the Administration’s growth assumptions. In discussing specifics of the yet-to-be released tax reform plan, he stated that the estate tax would be eliminated, that there would be a one-time deemed...
Congressional Republicans Frustrated by Lack of Tax Reform Detail
Posted on Sep 14, 2017 in News
With the vote for tax reform legislation looming, Congressional members of the GOP, including Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, have expressed concern over the lack of clarity as to what the tax reform proposal is. Speaking anonymously, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee suggested that the lack of detail was either to prevent media leaks or because there is simply not...
Tax Reform Outline to be Released Week of September 25
Posted on Sep 13, 2017 in News
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady announced that a tax reform framework that identifies the “consensus” core elements of tax reform will be released the week of September 25 when Congress returns from their break. Brady also confirmed that the objective is still to enact tax reform legislation this year and that the intention is to do so through budget reconciliation....
House Freedom Caucus and Tuesday Group at Odds Over 2018 Budget Resolution
Posted on Jul 5, 2017 in News
Amidst debate surrounding major spending cuts to the budget, the House Budget Committee canceled recent plans to send a budget resolution for fiscal year 2018, a prerequisite to passing tax reform in the Senate without support of Democrats, to the House floor. The conservative Freedom Caucus will only support a budget resolution if it includes cuts to welfare programs such as...
House Republicans Divided Over Means to Pay for Tax Reform
Posted on May 10, 2017 in News
House Republican leadership is committed to a tax reform plan that does not add to the deficit, paying for tax cuts with a Border Adjustment Tax and the removal of deductions. Other members of the House majority support lower rates regardless of the immediate effect, arguing that resultant long-term economic growth will outweigh short-term costs. House Republicans Struggle with Cost...
Trump’s Tax Plan Causes Divisions Within the Republican Party
Posted on May 2, 2017 in News
Following a two-day tax policy retreat, Peter Roskam, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Taxation, indicated that the committee is still committed to writing tax reform legislation that is revenue neutral and therefore can be permanent under the Senate’s budget reconciliation rules. That contrasts with Trump’s tax plan, which is projected to increase the federal...