Congress to Begin Debate on Healthcare, Tax Reform

Each Monday, Palmer Schoening, President of Schoening Strategies and Chairman of the Family Business Coalition, provides tedmag.com with a look at what to expect from Washington, D.C. that could directly impact your business.

This week, Schoening says we can expect to see a temporary budget in place, plus potential movement on healthcare reform and possible tax cuts.  If you have questions or you are looking for additional information, you can comment below or email tED magazine at info@tedmag.com.

FY17 Omnibus Appropriation Agreed To, Enactment Assured. At 2 AM EDT this morning, the Appropriations Committees posted its FY17 Consolidated Appropriations Act, H.R.244, press release with 11 summaries, to fund the government through midnight September 30th. The agreement totals $1.163 trillion in discretionary spending, including a $25 billion defense increase, $95.3 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations, a $1.5 billion “down payment on additional measures to bolster border security,” and $8.1 billion for disaster relief. It also includes a permanent coal miner health fix. House passage is expected Wednesday and Senate passage Thursday. Enactment is assured.

American Health Care Act Vote? Now that government funding has been assured, the House will turn its attention to a deal on the American Health Care Act. The votes may be there late this week before the House departs on a 10-day recess. Nothing has been scheduled yet.

Tax Reform: Ways and Means Republicans will conclude a two-day retreat today. Last Friday, Chair Kevin Brady (R-TX) told reporters, he and his colleagues were in a “feedback loop” with Joint Tax Committee staff formulating tax reform details and revenue estimates. “They are sort of where we are in the race, you know, or the development at this point. And so, we will discuss the current state of play but nowhere near final numbers.” Rep. Kenny Marchant (R-TX) said, “We have lots of loose ends that we don’t have decisions made on. There are 10 to 12 categories that we’ve got to make a firm decision on now that we have Joint Tax numbers.” One of the main questions is how much to move toward President Trump’s tax proposal for a 15% top business tax rate without a border adjustment tax. Complicated budget scoring rules will decide how far Republicans can go in the Senate.