On April 10, after a tense overnight period during which about a dozen House Republicans said they would vote against the compromise Congressional Budget Resolution (CBR) that authorizes a Senate filibuster-proof reconciliation bill, the House narrowly approved the Senate-passed compromise budget. The 216-214 vote opens the way for writing a multi-trillion-dollar budget bill that will contain a huge tax package as well as deep spending cuts. Two Republicans joined all the Democrats in voting against the resolution.

On March 26, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an interim final rule (RIN 1506-AB49) narrowing the applicability of the beneficial ownership information (BOI) rule to foreign reporting companies.

On March 12, the Treasury Department announced that the federal deficit has grown to $1.15 trillion over the first five months (October through February) of Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. This is 17 percent higher than the deficit level at this time last year. According to the Treasury release, the deficit in February alone grew to $307 billion.

The U.S. government cannot borrow beyond a statutory limit (the “debt limit”), and when borrowing needs exceed the debt limit either Congress must raise (or suspend) it, or the U.S. will not be able to meet all its obligations on a timely basis. Such a failure to make timely payments would trigger worldwide economic catastrophe, putting at risk the “full faith and credit” of the U.S., economists say. The U.S. is currently at the statutory debt limit and is using certain accounting measures to avoid breaching the cap. Those accounting measures will be exhausted in the coming weeks, setting up a key legislative priority for Congress.

On March 12, Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY), a member of the tax-writing House Ways & Means Committee, introduced a bipartisan bill, the WISH Act, that would create a public-private partnership to address the affordability of long-term care. The bill was cosponsored by Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI).

On March 11, a group of bipartisan, bicameral legislators, led Rep. Mike Carey (R-OH), Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.VA.) and Sen. Michael Bennett (D-CO) reintroduced the Credit for Caring Act, which would provide a federal, nonrefundable tax credit of up to $5,000 for working family caregivers. Caregivers with an earned income of at least $7,500 annually would be eligible for the credit if their care recipient meets certain functional or cognitive limitations. The credit would phase out for individual filers earning more than $75,000 in a taxable year and $150,000 for joint filers.

On March 19, House Education & the Workforce Committee Chair Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) wrote to Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer urging her to focus DOL on “neglected” regulatory issues like expansion of access to health care and a range of PBGC issues.

Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the Senate’s Majority Leader and a member of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee, is pushing for inclusion of complete estate tax repeal in the upcoming tax reconciliation bill. Sen. Thune listed estate tax repeal as among his priorities—another is making permanent the extension of expiring tax rules.

On April 2, the House Education and the Workforce Committee’s Health Subcommittee held a hearing on “expanding access and affordability” to employer-sponsored health insurance. A key priority the subcommittee discussed was association health plans (AHPs).

An April 3 Department of Labor (DOL) Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB 2025-02) provides guidance on the annual funding notice requirements applicable to defined benefit (DB) plans. The Bulletin also provides updated model notices for single-employer and multiemployer DB pension plans.

On March 10, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed new rule, CMS-9884-P/RIN 0938-AV61, that would, among other things, shorten the Affordable Care Act (ACA) enrollment period by a month and reduce ACA subsidies by $5/month until those claiming the subsidies confirm information about their income. Under the new rule, the enrollment period would end on December 15 rather than January 15.

Key Democrats in the House and Senate have introduced legislation to phase in a federal minimum wage increase to $17/hour. The five-year phase-in would hike the federal minimum wage, which is currently $7.25/hour, to $17/hour by 2030. The bill would also index the minimum wage for inflation, and would phase out the subminimum wage for youth, tipped and disabled workers. It would be the first federal minimum wage increase since 2009.

As Congress grapples with whether and how to cut Medicaid and also whether to allow current ACA premium tax credit levels to revert to 2016 levels, States are looking at ways to fill the gap.

On April 9, the Senate confirmed Paul Atkins to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The vote was 52 to 44.

On March 12, the Senate confirmed Keith Sonderling as deputy secretary of labor, the number two job at the Department of Labor (DOL). The vote was 53 to 46.

On April 3, the Senate confirmed President Trump’s nominee to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Dr. Mehmet Oz. The party-line vote was 53 to 45.

NAIFA’s Policy Director Roger Moore attended NAIC’s Spring 2025 National Meeting on March 23-26, where he had the opportunity to strengthen NAIFA’s relationships with state regulators and industry trade partners as well as advocate for key priorities affecting NAIFA’s members. Before regulators convened for the meeting, they announced their 2025 federal legislative and regulatory priorities, which include 1) preserving and respecting states’ primary role as insurance regulators by eliminating the Federal Insurance Office (FIO); 2) ensuring natural catastrophe resilience; 3) promoting and preserving state flexibility to manage their health insurance markets; 4) providing consistent funding for crucial programs; and 5) producing guidance for key issues, including Section 1557 nondiscrimination rules, copay accumulator rules, and mental health parity grants.

On March 14, Congress enacted a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government’s discretionary spending through September 30, 2025, the end of the current fiscal year.

Enactment of the law prevented a government shut-down that, absent this measure, would have kicked in at midnight March 15.

The House and Senate have passed different Congressional Budget Resolutions (CBRs). Now, the two chambers must reconcile the differences to pass identical CBRs to unlock the budget process (reconciliation) that could bring deep mandatory and discretionary spending cuts, a huge tax package, and possibly an increase in the debt limit.

NAIFA, in conjunction with a coalition of pass-through business employers, has weighed in with Congressional leadership on the importance of extending expiring tax rules important to pass-through (S corps, partnership, sole proprietorship) businesses.

On February 24, the Main Street Employers Coalition sent a letter to Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Democratic Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) urging Congress “to act quickly to prevent a massive tax hike on Main Street businesses.”