President Joe Biden delivered his second State of the Union address on Feb. 7, facing a divided Congress for the first time in his presidency. Biden opened with a show of bipartisanship, drawing cheers as he congratulated the...more
Following two rounds of votes, the House Republican Steering Committee elected Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) to serve as the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee for the 118th Congress. Smith has served on the committee...more
On Jan. 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Proposed Rule) seeking to categorically ban nearly all employer non-competition agreements nationwide. If passed in its draft form,...more
1/10/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Contract Terms ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Former Employee ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proposed Rules ,
Restrictive Covenants
Legislative Lowdown -
Lawmakers Look to 2023 for Tax Priorities Following Omnibus Passage. On Dec. 29, President Joe Biden signed the nearly $1.7 trillion Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022 into law, funding the...more
The Senate Appropriations Committee released the contents of a bipartisan $1.7 trillion omnibus package for fiscal year (FY) 2023 early on Dec. 20. Topline funding levels were agreed to last week as part of a deal to pass a...more
Legislative Lowdown -
Last-Minute Attempt to Revive Permitting Legislation. According to sources familiar with the matter, several moderate lawmakers from both parties are pushing to include energy-permitting reform...more
12/8/2022
/ Corporate Taxes ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Energy Tax Incentives ,
EU ,
Income Taxes ,
IRS ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New Legislation ,
Pending Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Planning ,
Tax Reform
Election Results -
Results are accurate as of 2 p.m. ET. -
Following record-breaking turnout in yesterday’s midterm elections, control of the 118th Congress remains unknown. Even as polling in the two weeks leading up...more
LEGISLATIVE LOWDOWN -
Recess Recap: What happened over the last month in the world of tax?
Congress Considers Options to Delay Impending Shutdown. With Congress unable to reach a consensus on appropriations bills for...more
10/24/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Data Security ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Federal Budget ,
Government Shutdown ,
Income Taxes ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
IRS ,
Student Loans ,
Tax Planning
RECONCILIATION UPDATE -
The Senate voted to pass the $750 billion Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) on Aug. 7, concluding a marathon session that began the night before. Passage of the bill in the Senate all but ensures a...more
Today, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division announced the publication of a highly anticipated notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on worker classification under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)....more
LEGISLATIVE LOWDOWN -
Congress Advances Towards CR as Deadline Approaches. Yesterday, Senate Democrats proposed legislation to fund the federal government through Dec. 16 with the use of a continuing resolution (CR). The...more
9/29/2022
/ China ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Energy Tax Incentives ,
Financial Services Committee ,
Hydrogen Power ,
Income Taxes ,
IRS ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Life Insurance ,
New Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Senate Banking Committee ,
Senate Finance Committee ,
Tax Planning ,
Tax Reform ,
Ways and Means Committee
Democrats’ Latest Push for an Expanded CTC. With the year-long effort to legislate a comprehensive energy, healthcare and tax bill finally completed, many Democratic lawmakers and members of the administration have fully...more
9/21/2022
/ Child Tax Credit ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Income Taxes ,
IRS ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New Legislation ,
Pending Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Planning ,
Tax Reform
This document summarizes the tax provisions included in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 that passed the Senate on Aug. 7, 2022. Modifications made to the bill by floor amendment are bolded and highlighted in blue....more
This document summarizes the tax provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 agreement that was released on July 27, 2022. The blue font signifies portions of the new bill that were added or have been modified from...more
8/5/2022
/ Aviation Industry ,
Biodiesel ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Energy ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Deficit Reduction ,
Green Energy ,
Green Finance ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
IRS
In an unexpected statement last Wednesday, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) jointly announced that they had reached a preliminary agreement on a roughly $750 billion budget...more
Reconciliation Revival? Ever since Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) publicly renounced his support of the House-passed Build Back Better Act (BBBA) in December of last year, the prospects of a reconciliation bill have appeared grim...more
Build Back Better Outlook. Congressional Democrats are still hoping they can pass some version of the Build Back Better Act (BBBA), the budget reconciliation vehicle to advance some of President Joe Biden’s legislative...more
6/24/2022
/ Bipartisan Agreement ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Income Taxes ,
IRS ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Pending Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Senate Committees ,
Tax Reform ,
Ways and Means Committee
Kustoff Joins Ways and Means. Rep. David Kustoff (R-TN) has been selected to replace former Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY), who resigned from Congress earlier this year, on the House Ways and Means Committee. He will sit on the Worker...more
The House and the Senate reconvene Tuesday at 2 p.m. and Monday at 3 a.m., respectively....more
Tax Staffers Discuss State of Tax Policy. At a tax conference last week, top officials from the Biden administration and key congressional staffers discussed the latest in tax policy. One panel, which was focused on the...more
Replacing Reed? Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, resigned from Congress last week. As of this writing, Republicans have not indicated when—or whether—they will fill the vacancy left by...more
Congressional Tax Staffers Outline Agenda. Several senior staffers on the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee—Andrew Grossman, Courtney Connell, Derek Theurer and Tiffany Smith—participated in a...more
The House and Senate will reconvene Tuesday at 2 p.m. and Monday at 3 p.m., respectively....more
LEGISLATIVE LOWDOWN -
Bipartisan Innovation Act: More Tax Talk. The conference committee to reconcile the House-passed America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength Act...more
5/5/2022
/ Bipartisan Agreement ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Income Taxes ,
IRS ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Pending Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Senate Committees ,
Tax Reform ,
Ways and Means Committee
On Capitol Hill this week during Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra’s testimony for the Semi-Annual Report, members of Congress touched on several hot button issues impacting financial service...more