Authority for federal discretionary spending expires at midnight November 17. Yesterday the House passed the legislation unveiled by GOP House leadership last Saturday, the Further Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act, to fund the government’s discretionary spending beyond expiration on November 17 of its current spending authority. The vote was 336-95. Only 2 Democrats voted against it.

Bipartisan legislation to create a federal retirement savings plan has been introduced in both the House and Senate. The Retirement Savings for Americans Act (RSAA) was introduced on October 19 in the Senate by Sens. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) and Thom Tillis (R-NC). In the House, the RSAA was introduced by Reps. Terri Sewell (D-AL) and Lloyd Smucker (R-PA).

A bipartisan pair of House tax writers introduced legislation giving very small businesses (those with ten or fewer employees) a tax credit for establishing a new retirement savings plan for their workers. H.R.6007 was introduced on October 23 by Ways & Means Committee members Reps. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) and Dan Kildee (D-MI).

Laying the groundwork for more proposals to reduce or eliminate the growing economic gap between the wealthy and working American families, both the Senate Budget and Finance Committees held hearings on the wealthy’s tax liability. The Budget Committee hearing was held on November 8; the Finance Committee hearing was November 9.

In what turned into a partisan slugfest, on November 7, the House Ways & Means Committee held a hearing on the impact of the Department of Labor (DOL) rules on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors surrounding retirement plan investment choices. Generally, the committee’s GOP members slammed the permissibility of considering ESG factors in evaluating the appropriateness of certain investments for inclusion in a tax-favored retirement savings plan. By contrast, Democrats say the ESG rule is timely and appropriate in the context of retirement savings plan investment choices.

New Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) promised to establish a bipartisan debt commission to address growing federal debt and deficit concerns. The commission would focus on revenue (taxes), spending, and the central role of entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. The federal debt reached $1.7 trillion in FY 2023.

On September 30, in a last-minute maneuver that pitted hard-right conservative House Republicans against the perceived disaster of a government shutdown, Congress approved a “clean” continuing resolution (CR) that will keep the federal government funded and operating until November 17. The CR also extends authorization and funding for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) until November 17.

The House of Representatives is in turmoil. On October 11, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) beat rival Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) to win his party’s nomination to be Speaker of the House by a narrow 113-99 secret vote. But Rep. Scalise withdrew from the race some 24 hours later, determining that he could not get the 217 votes needed to win on the House floor. Then, on October 13, Rep. Jordan won a GOP Conference vote to become the House GOP nominee for Speaker—but his vote total was 93 short of the 217 needed on the House floor. So, going into the evening of October 16, the House is still without a Speaker, or any prospects for one. And thus, all House business remains at a halt pending the election of a new Speaker.

On September 20, the House Budget Committee, by a party-line 20 to 14 vote, approved a fiscal year (FY) 2024 budget that balances the federal budget within ten years, and calls for a commission to deal with entitlements. It also provides for permanence and/or extension of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) individual and estate tax rules. Generally, these TCJA tax cuts expire in 2026.

Lawmakers returned to Washington after a six-week August recess with just two weeks in which to provide funding for the entirety of the discretionary spending available to the federal government. Other must-pass legislation, also due by October 1, further complicates September. And the politics are extremely difficult for all of this must-do legislation. A number of issues of concern to NAIFA could be caught up in what looks like will be a brutal month (or four).

Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee approved four anti- environmental/social/governance (ESG) bills this past July, and on September 5, GOP members of the House Education & the Workforce Committee introduced another four bills that would restrict the use of ESG factors in evaluating investments in a retirement savings plan.

Congress left Washington on July 27 without enacting any fiscal year (FY) 2024 appropriations bills. Lawmakers did make some progress in both the House and Senate, but face having to do all 12 of the annual discretionary spending bills in less than three weeks in September. Expect deep cuts to the budgets of all the agencies, except the Veterans Administration (VA) and Defense, and potentially new taxes as well.

A new Senate bill, S.2512, would permit employers to automatically enroll existing workers (who had initially opted out) into their employer-sponsored retirement plans every three years. The reenrollment would be subject to the worker’s ongoing ability to continue to opt out.

On July 27, Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA), a key member of the tax-writing House Ways & Means Committee, introduced legislation to make permanent the 20 percent deduction for noncorporate business income. The bipartisan bill, H.R.4721, the Main Street Tax Certainty Act, has 99 cosponsors.

Key Democrats in the Senate and the House have introduced legislation to raise the federal minimum wage to $17/hour. The “Raise the Wage Act” was introduced in the Senate on July 25 by Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chair Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Senate HELP has jurisdiction over minimum wage issues. The bill was introduced in the House by Education & the Workforce Committee ranking member Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA). The Education & the Workforce Committee has jurisdiction over the bill in the House.

On July 27, the House Ways & Means Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight held a hearing on delays in processing employee retention tax credit (ERTC) claims, and on reports of widespread fraudulent claims for the pandemic-era tax credit.

On June 1, by bipartisan votes, Congress finalized approval of a bill (H.R.3746) embodying the Biden-McCarthy debt limit/spending cuts agreement. The agreement staves off the default on U.S. debt that Treasury stated would have come on June 5 unless Congress acted.

Some Republican lawmakers, unhappy with the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA), are fighting back against Congressional leadership. The problem is most acute in the House, but legislation-stopping action is also on Senate (and House-Senate relations) radar scopes.

On June 14, the House was set to pass H.R.277, the REINS Act. The REINS Act (Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny) would subject every major regulation (those with an economic impact of $100 million or more) to Congressional approval before it could take effect. Nonmajor rules (those with economic impact under $100 million) would be permitted to take effect unless Congress votes to disapprove them.

On June 7, the House Ways & Means Committee unanimously approved legislation, H.R.3801, that would streamline the Affordable Care Act (ACA) required reporting. The Employer Reporting Improvement Act, sponsored by Reps. Adrian Smith (R-NE) and Mike Thompson (D-CA), cleared the committee on a 37 to 0 vote. It is now ready for House floor action.