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Congress is back in session for what promises to be a busy April for tax policy. Here is a quick overview of what’s happening.
The big-ticket item is the $80 billion Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act. This bill easily passed the House back in January but has remained stalled in the Senate since.
That’s largely due to Republican tax writers’ objections over the structure of the child tax credit, among other items. As Politico reported this morning:
Key Senate Republicans, including the ranking member of the Finance Committee, Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho, and the two tax writers running to be next GOP leader in the chamber, Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and John Thune of South Dakota, all continue to have issues with the Wyden-Smith bill, complicating its chances of getting passed.
Republicans have asked Finance Chair Ron Wyden to hold a markup, but he has resisted such calls to date. Leader Schumer, meanwhile, sent a note to his colleagues Friday outlining the Senate’s agenda and while he did mention the tax bill, it was only in the context of a longer list of issues that might be considered. Again, from Politico:
There are also close to a dozen items listed in that “weeks and months ahead” bucket, and not all that much floor time left in 2024, in no small part because it’s a presidential election year — so it remains difficult to know just how much of a priority the tax bill will be for Schumer.
TIA will continue to provide updates on these developments.
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