Policy Update

Earmark Reform Dominates Ethics Debate, Reid Anxious to Complete Legislation

1/12/2007

Source: Independent Sector

Senator Jim DeMint’s (R-SC) proposal to side earmark disclosure language with that in the House narrowly survived an attempt by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to table the amendment.  The amendment calls for defining “limited tax benefit” in the Senate’s ethics reform package (S. 1) as "any revenue-losing provision that provides a federal tax deduction, credit, exclusion, or preference to 10 or fewer beneficiaries."  

Arguing that the amendment should not deter from the current bill’s bipartisan support, Assistant Majority Leader Richard J. Durbin (D-IL) said the earmark language included in the bipartisan substitute amendment to S. 1 is “more flexible” and would “allow facts and circumstances” to determine tax benefits. 

Majority Leader Reid is expected to file a motion to limit debate on the ethics bill in an effort to complete the legislation next week so that the Senate is able to proceed to additional priority items, including an Iraq resolution, minimum wage increase, and stem cell research legislation. 

Source: Congress Daily PM, CQ Today, Congress Daily AM, and Tax Analysts

See more on lobbying/ethics reform from Independent Sector.

Walker Testifies On Looming Fiscal Crisis, Conrad Advocates Working Group

Testifying before the Senate Budget Committee yesterday, United States Comptroller General David M. Walker, of the Government Accountability Office, said that the federal government must severely overhaul entitlement programs, rein in discretionary spending, and revamp the tax system to avoid a fiscal disaster. 

According to Walker, the fiscal outlook in the long-term “is moving in the wrong direction” and “neither slowing the growth in discretionary spending nor allowing the tax provisions to expire would eliminate the imbalance.”  Senate Budget Committee Chair Kent Conrad (D-ND) said he is working with Ranking Member Judd Gregg (R-NH) to develop a proposal to establish a bipartisan, congressional working group to study entitlement overhaul and draft legislative proposals that would also include overhauling tax policy and other spending measures. 

Source: Congress Daily PM, Tax Analysts, and CQ Today

See Walker’s complete testimony (pdf) before the Senate Budget Committee on the GAO website. 

See Chairman Conrad’s statement (pdf) before the Senate Budget Committee.

See charts (pdf) used in yesterday’s hearing.

Rangel Aims to Target Tax Loopholes, Breaks

Yesterday, House Ways and Means Chair Charles Rangel (D-NY) indicated he is prepared to eradicate all loopholes and targeted tax breaks to pay for anticipated spending priorities.  The Chairman did not say how he intends to distinguish “tax pork” from legitimate tax incentives; however, he vowed that all tax breaks will be open to scrutiny saying, “Right now, it’s my thought that you take all of the incentives – the charitable contribution, the mortgage interest – and just add them up.  And say you’re getting rid of all of them unless you put up your hand.“ 

Interest groups, including business lobbies, have already initiated advocacy efforts to ensure their tax preferences are not targeted.  Source: Congress Daily AM