Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Senate Will Pass Extenders Before End of Week

Senate Will Pass Extenders Before End of Week, Says McConnell,(Dec. 10, 2014)

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on December 9 declared that the Senate will pass the Tax Increase Prevention Bill (HR 5771), a package of some 54 tax provisions, before it adjourns at the end of the week. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was less sanguine, saying that the upper chamber will turn to tax extenders after Senate lawmakers approve a defense spending bill, legislation to keep the government operating beyond December 12 and an omnibus appropriations bill.

"There are three things we’re going to do," McConnell said, speaking to reporters following the weekly caucus luncheons. "We’re going to pass the National Defense Authorization Act, we’re going to pass the omnibus/CR (continuous resolution) and we’re going to pass the tax extender bill before we leave here this week."

HR 5771 extends individual, business and energy tax incentives through 2014 and makes technical corrections to existing tax laws. It also includes the House-approved Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Bill of 2014 (HR 647). The ABLE Bill would create tax-favored accounts for individuals challenged by disabilities.

The timing could leave the Senate working into the weekend as the House has yet to produce an omnibus appropriations bill and a CR necessary to keep the government from shutting down. Because of House rules, a bill must be made public for 48 hours before a vote can be held. As of press time, the House had not produced an omnibus bill, which means that chamber cannot vote on the measure before late in the evening of December 12 at the earliest, which will put a squeeze on Senate lawmakers and likely bump their adjournment date into the weekend.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., have also been engaged in talks in the hope that they can make the charitable giving tax credits permanent, but Reid was skeptical. He said that, with the Senate’s full plate, it was hard to imagine that lawmakers could tackle any new legislation. "I think it will be hard to get any new legislation up," he noted. "We have stuff we have to work through. Wyden made a presentation to the caucus. If we can get it up we will."

By Jeff Carlson, CCH News Staff