This afternoon, the House of Representatives narrowly passed the budget resolution (H. Con. Res. 71) by a vote of 216-212.  Importantly, the budget resolution sets forth the process for expedited consideration of tax reform legislation in the Senate, requiring only 50 votes for passage.  Following the vote, Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady announced that the committee will release its tax reform legislation on Wednesday, November 1 and will formally begin a markup of the legislation the following week on November 6.
The budget resolution allows tax reform legislation to increase the deficit by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years.  Over the next week, Republicans will continue to negotiate on some of the more controversial offsets laid out in the initial tax reform framework, such as reducing the state and local Tax deduction.  Notably, many of the Republicans who voted against the budget resolution hail from New York and New Jersey, where the impact of repealing this deduction could be pronounced.
AGC supported passage of the budget resolution as a means to consider tax reform legislation, and signed a letter calling on Congress to do so.  AGC continues to push for the priorities of the construction industry in the package, such as lowering tax rates for both corporations and pass-through businesses, simplifying tax preparation, and promoting infrastructure investment.  We will evaluate the proposal after it is introduced next week to see if it reflects AGC priorities.
For more information, please contact Matt Turkstra at [email protected] or (202) 547-4733.