Ten GOP senators plan to offer a compromise COVID-19 relief plan today. A group of 10 Republicans wants to present President Biden with a low-cost alternative to his $1.9 trillion pandemic relief plan. They say their plan will cost $600 billion. Some in the group say it would reduce relief payments from Biden’s proposed $1,400 to $1,000, lower income limits for eligibility, and drop his proposed increase to the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour. The plan is silent on aid to states. Biden aides say they want a bill passed quickly but would not say if the White House is open to lowering the size of the relief package.
Will the federal budget process even allow a minimum wage increase? Progressive Democrats want to include an increase to $15 in the federal minimum wage in a budget reconciliation package. But provisions that do not change federal spending or revenues usually are excluded from the budget reconciliation process. Progressive Democrats may press to overrule any objection and include the provision.
Michigan’s marijuana industry wants to be more diverse, but the price may be too high. Industry representatives say they want to improve racial diversity in the growing, processing, testing, transportation, and sale of recreational marijuana. But they largely oppose higher taxes to pay for programs to support those improvements. The Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency work group recently released a report supporting those new programs along with higher taxes, including a renewed 3 percent excise tax on medical marijuana sales and a new 1.5 percent tax on recreational marijuana transactions. Recreational marijuana currently faces a 6 percent sales tax and a 10 percent excise tax.
Judge: Trump’s law firm must deliver more documents to the New York State Attorney General. Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron ordered the law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius to turn over Trump Organization documents that AG Letitia James's office requested as part of its years-long investigation.
TPC’s The Prescription will host Alan Auerbach on Thursday at Noon. This week’s guest for TPC’s The Prescription is University of California, Berkeley economist Alan J. Auerbach. He’ll talk with TPC senior fellow Howard Gleckman about the forthcoming book Taxing Profit in a Global Economy, which Auerbach coauthored with five internationally prominent economists and lawyers. The book describes the deep flaws in the existing international tax system and proposes two models for radical reform. Register here.
