On The Hill

Congress Passes Spending Bill; Extenders Package Included   Lawmakers sent a two-part spending deal that includes a $426 billion tax cut to the White House this week. The deal includes an extenders package that removes several Obama-era health taxes and extends a number of tax credits that have expired, or are set to expire at…

Congress Clears FY 2020 Spending Bill, Awaits President’s Signature   The Senate cleared two minibuses on Thursday, effectively ending any chance of a government shutdown this year. President Trump has until midnight on Friday (Dec. 20) to sign the nearly $1.4 trillion package. The Senate voted 71-23 on a non-defense package that approved funding for…

European Commission’s Green Plan The European Union (EU) announced Wednesday (Dec. 11) it’s executive arm will work to eliminate net discharges of greenhouse gasses by 2050. The package of proposed measures includes stricter limits for industry, energy taxes, new rules on subsidies for companies, greener farming practices, and a potential environmental import tax. The Green…

Drug pricing and surprise billing legislation encompassed most business on the healthcare front this week. Elsewhere, Capitol Hill remained focused on the House Judiciary Committee’s impeachment hearings into President Trump and efforts by appropriators to keep the government open through the rest of fiscal year 2020. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) drug pricing bill (HR…

Tax Extenders Still Up in the Air While tax extenders discussions are ongoing, contents of an extender package – and if one will materialize before Congress returns home for the holidays – remain unclear. The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) is on the shortlist of the extenders favored by Democrats. WOTC was previously extended in…

USMCA Clears Path for House Vote After all of 2019 was spent with “will they, won’t they,” House Democrats and the Trump administration have struck a deal on the United States-Canada-Mexico Agreement (USMCA). The deal, which both sides are claiming victory, was announced Tuesday (Dec. 10) morning by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Ways and…

PFAS Legislation A deal on federal cleanup standards for PFAS chemicals in the annual defense authorization was scrapped by House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) on Friday (Dec. 5). Lawmakers have disagreed for months over designating the class of 5,000 toxic chemicals as a hazardous substance. A source familiar with the negotiations said…

Drug pricing was atop the healthcare news in Washington this week as there were big movements on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s drug pricing bill (HR 3) and the Grassley-Wyden bill (S. 2543) in the Senate. Pelosi announced that the full House will vote on HR 3 after numerous changes and a preliminary CBO score, which estimates…

French DST Escalates Trade Tensions On Monday (Dec. 2), the Trump administration threatened to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent $2.4 billion worth of French products. The announcement comes following an investigation by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) that found France’s digital services tax (DST) unfairly discriminates against large U.S. tech companies, most…

EU Files Appeal in Boeing-Airbus Dispute Earlier this week, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said the European Union (EU) has not done enough to end government subsidies for Airbus. The ruling serves as a green light for the Trump administration to leave in place the $7.5 billion of tariffed European imports it was awarded in…