NASE in the News

Full Plate Of Legislative Activity Before The End Of The Year

The U.S. Congress is working on a full plate of legislative activity before the end of the year, including two major pieces of the Administration’s Build Back Better agenda introduced earlier this year. As part of that legislative package, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, often referred to as the bipartisan infrastructure bill focuses primarily on “hard infrastructure” such as roads, bridges and physical infrastructure. This bill passed through Congress on Friday, November 5th  and President Biden  has signed this  major government investment into  our  nation’s infrastructure into  law.

The second major piece of legislation is the Build Back Better Act, a “soft infrastructure” package, which  would be a major investment and restructuring of the U.S. tax code to boost spending on a multitude of issues ranging from lowering of prescription drug prices to early  childhood education. Last month, the White  House and Congress agreed to a framework that would guide the legislation. While the House has passed its version, the Senate will now  consider its own.

Together, they represent both a physical and human investment in infrastructure in the United States.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs  Act
Both  the U.S. Senate and House approved the legislation with bipartisan support. The $1.2 trillion  package includes $550  billion in new federal investments in infrastructure over  five years, representing the largest, new  investment in transportation and infrastructure in nearly half a century.

The package includes new  funding for roads and bridges, money for transit and rail, broadband upgrade to improve the nation’s broadband infrastructure, updating airports, ports and waterways, funding for electric vehicles, improvements in power and water systems, and paves the way for increased environmental remediation.

The president has signed the legislation into  law.

You can  read NASE’s press release here.
You can  read more about the bill here.

The Build Back Better Act
The House just  passed its measure, but  negotiations will continue as it now  goes to the Senate for its consideration. The House bill’s current version contains spending on several programs over  10 years, including childcare assistance, extension of the child tax credit, paid family and medical leave, expanded access to home care for the elderly and those with disabilities, Medicare expansion, reductions in health care premiums and prescription drugs, and climate change provisions.

The Senate now  will follow-up with consideration of its own  version of the bill by the end of the year. Once it passes the Senate, both chambers will convene a conference committee to reconcile the two versions and then each would, again, need to vote  to approve the conference version.

If approved, it would go the president’s desk for his anticipated signature.
You can  read about what is in the current House package here.

Proposed New IRS Reporting Requirements
The IRS recently released new  tax information reporting rules that would require every American with a bank account (including those in the small  business community) to track  and submit information to the IRS on money going  in and out of every account above a de minimis threshold of $600  during the year. While the goal of the new rule is intended to target tax dodgers, it is not  only costly,  but  cumbersome to meet. It would impose unintended consequences on small  employers in the operation of their businesses.

The NASE joined a coalition of trade associations in signing a letter of opposition to this  proposed new reporting rule  sent to members of Congress and the president. The proposal is costly  and unfair for our  community, and we strongly oppose this  new reporting regime.

You can  read the letter to Congress here and to the president here.