On July 10, the House Education and Workforce Committee approved a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to block the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) new fiduciary-only rule. The CRA resolution, H.J.Res.142, would “disapprove the rule submitted by the Department of Labor relating to “Retirement Security by Rule: Definition of an Investment Advice Fiduciary (89 Fed. Reg. 32122 (April 25, 2024)), and such rule shall have no force or effect.”

A federal district court in Texas has stayed a Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS’) Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rule that sets a fixed administrative fee and consequently prevents payment to health insurance agents and brokers for advice recommending certain managed care plans. In Am. For Beneficiary Choice v. HHS and Council for Medicare Choice v. HHS, the court found that the plaintiffs demonstrated a substantial likelihood that they would prevail on the merits. The merits include plaintiffs’ claims that the rule would “upend the regulatory status quo, dramatically limiting administrative fees that Congress did not intend” for CMS to regulate.

In Moore v. United States, the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) sidestepped the question of whether it is constitutional to tax unrealized income—but four opinions (two concurring and two dissenting) suggest that at least four of the current SCOTUS justices might in another case find it is unconstitutional to tax income until it is realized.

Both House and Senate tax writers continue their preparations for the 2025 tax bill. More potential targets for revenue-raising tax provisions have emerged.

Last month Republican lawmakers introduced motions to block the new rule raising the salary threshold for the white-collar exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime (OT) rule. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) introduced the Congressional Review Act (CRA) motion in the House; Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) introduced it in the Senate.

On June 20, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said the 1.4 million pending employee retention tax credit (ERTC) claims are getting continued heightened scrutiny, with “the vast majority” of them showing risk of being improper. The agency announced it had completed a detailed review of the pending claims in order to protect taxpayers and small businesses, and said it resulted in plans to deny tens of thousands of improper high-risk ERTC claims. Now, the IRS has started a new round of processing lower-risk claims to help eligible taxpayers.

On July 9, the House Ways & Means Committee approved legislation, H.R.8915, to expand the kinds of education-related expenses that can be paid tax-free from a 529 plan. Among the bill’s provisions is one that would allow NAIFA members to use 529 funds for professional certifications or programs connected with obtaining a postsecondary credential, including those required to obtain a state license.

Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions to block the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) newly finalized fiduciary rule have been introduced in both the House and Senate. It appears the motion may pass, but President Biden is virtually certain to veto it if it does pass.

House Ways & Means Committee Republicans have formed ten issue-specific “tax teams” to work on what to include in the looming 2025 major tax bill. Senate Finance Committee Republicans will tackle these issues in six “working groups.” Both say they “may” include Democrats in their deliberations at some point, but for now, it is an all-GOP effort.

Recurring revenue estimates of the cost of extending the expiring 2017 tax cuts suggest that revenue will play a major role in the debate over the upcoming tax bill in 2025. After at least five revenue estimates, all covering a 10-year period that includes 2028, projections of the revenue lost due to current tax rules keep going up.

A companion Senate bill (S.4398) to the RISE Act introduced last fall in the House (H.R.6007) has been introduced. The RISE Act expands the tax credit available for starting retirement savings plans for very small businesses.

The House-passed tax bill, H.R.7024, remains stalled in the Senate. However, its chief Senate sponsor, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), says the bill is not dead. Sen. Wyden says he continues to work with Senate leadership to schedule Senate floor time on the bill.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) has asked for public comments on how to amend current law to allow companies to provide benefits to their independent contractor workers who are not employees.  Sen. Cassidy is ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, the committee with jurisdiction over ERISA’s non-tax pension/retirement savings issues. He also serves on the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over ERISA’s and other retirement savings tax issues.

A study released on June 6 by the Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association (LIMRA) shows a 25 percent increase in pension risk transfer contracts in the first quarter of this year. A LIMRA statement discussing the study pointed to a record $14.6 billion in 146 contracts in companies shifting their lifetime pension obligations to annuities.

NAIFA’s May 20-21 Congressional Conference participants will fan out over Capitol Hill to educate lawmakers on key issues impacting NAIFA members and their clients. Several hundred participants from almost every state and Congressional District will also establish and grow the constituent-lawmaker relationships that are so key to favorable legislative outcomes.

On April 23, the Department of Labor (DOL) finalized its new fiduciary rule and its accompanying amendments to prohibited transaction exemptions (PTEs) 2020-02 and 84-24. The new rules would take effect September 23, but they have already triggered the first of what are likely to be multiple court challenges to them. Those court decisions could impact the effective date. And Congress is likely to vote on a Congressional Review Act (CRA) motion to block the rules, although even if a CRA motion passes both the House and Senate, President Biden will surely veto it.

There will be a major tax bill in 2025, as both Republicans and Democrats contend with the looming expiration of most of the current tax code’s individual and estate tax rules. Scheduled for expiration at the end of 2025 are income and capital gains tax rates for individuals as well as the current $12+ million exemption from the estate tax. Tax policy will play a key role in the debate, but so will revenue—the cost of extending the 2017 rules is astronomical. And lawmakers are already looking at other tax issues—like, for example, the corporate tax rate—that are not scheduled to expire but are intrinsic to both tax policy and revenue issues.

The House Ways & Means Committee held a hearing on April 30 with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen as the sole witness. The hearing focused on the Biden budget tax proposals, and on the issues surrounding the scheduled expiration of the 2017 individual and estate tax rules.

Not only are fixed annuities now within the scope of the final fiduciary rule, but also a key tax writer is seeking information from the 12 biggest annuity writers about how annuities are sold. It appears that annuities are approaching being at the center of both Congressional and regulatory attention.

The House Education & the Workforce’s Subcommittee on Workforce Protections held a hearing last month on how to allow states and companies to provide independent contractors with employer-provided benefits without causing them to be classified as employees. Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) said at the hearing that he is working on legislation to achieve this result.