Congress agrees to a short-term continuing resolution. The House and Senate passed a week-long continuing resolution to keep the government’s doors open and funded at current levels through Dec. 23. That gives negotiators more time to try to finalize details of an omnibus spending bill that would run through next Sept 30. House Appropriations Chair Rosa DeLauro says the omnibus spending package will be released Monday. That should give lawmakers enough time to pass a bill… unless Senate opponents slow the process.
Will a final deal include any tax provisions? Many tax writers remain skeptical, especially about the fate of efforts to expand the Child Tax Credit and restore more generous business depreciation rules. They give somewhat better odds that a retirement savings bill will make the final cut. But is this the darkness before the dawn, as it often is as Congress nears a deadline? Or just the darkness?
Ways & Means leaders near agreement on Social Security fix. Chairman Richard Neal and top Republican Kevin Brady each have bills to repeal the “windfall elimination provision” that limits Social Security benefits for about 2 million public employees who qualify for both government pensions and Social Security benefits from other employment. They’d create a proportional formula based on the share of earnings from Social Security “covered” employment. But they have not agreed on how to prevent benefit cuts for those who would receive higher payouts under the current formula.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin wants $1 billion in tax cuts. His proposed two-year budget featuring $1 billion in tax cuts would be on top of the $4 billion in tax cuts he signed into law earlier this year. He also proposes new spending on economic development, bonuses for teachers and law enforcement officers, reforming the state’s mental health care system, and cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay. The Republican may run for president in 2024.
Will Los Angeles’ affluent homeowners rush to sell before April 1? The city’s voters approved a one-time 4 percent transfer tax on property sales exceeding $5 million (5.5 percent on sales exceeding $10 million). Real estate agents report a rush to sell before the tax goes into effect on April 1. Timing notwithstanding, a UCLA analysis finds the tax will affect only about 4 percent of all real estate transactions in a given year, and fewer than 3 percent of single-family home and condo sales. Had the tax been in effect from June 2021 to June 2022, it would’ve raised about $900 million compared to $207 million under current law.
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