Archive for January 2025

Republicans Remain Divided on Reconciliation Strategy Republican intra-party disputes over strategy and the party’s tiny House majority continue to stymie the party’s efforts to come together in support of a budget reconciliation strategy.  Last Wednesday, President-elect Trump met with Senate Republicans. Although some of them continued to argue for a two-bill approach, Trump reiterated his preference…

The Hunt for Revenue to Offset Tax Cuts Republican budget hawks remain very concerned about the deficit effect of a reconciliation bill.  Rep. Roy (R-TX) warned last week that he will push to be sure that the party does not rely on scoring gimmicks to claim that the package is deficit-neutral.  But Republican leadership has…

ASA Supports the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2025 ASA supports the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2025 introduced by Sen. Thune (R-SD), which would lead the country towards a commonsense tax code that does not impose a destructive double or triple tax at death. We support full and permanent repeal of the federal estate…

This Week in Congress Last Friday, the House re-elected Rep. Johnson (R-LA) as Speaker and the 119th Congress was sworn into office. Now, the House and Senate will prepare for the 2025 congressional session scheduled to start later this month. On Monday, January 6th, Congress made Donald Trump’s Electoral College victory official and no Democratic…

118th Congress and Looking Ahead to Unified Government The 118th Congress had a historically lackluster performance, delivering just 158 pieces of legislation to be signed by the president; less than half of the previous Congress’s total. With unified government secured, it tends to equal results. The most productive Congresses under Presidents George W. Bush, Obama,…

Unexpected Turn of Events in the Lawsuit Regarding the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) On December 26, 2024, the Fifth Circuit merits panel reinstituted the preliminary injunction against the enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA); thereby, there is no requirement or deadline to file a company Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) report pursuant to the CTA.…

Preliminary List of Legislative Priorities for the 119th Congress Debt Ceiling:  In December 2021, Congress voted to increase the debt limit, the maximum amount of money that the U.S. can borrow to meet its legal obligations, to $31.4 trillion.  The Treasury hit that limit in early 2023.  The bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act, passed by Congress…

ASA’s Comments to OSHA’s Heat Injury and Illness Prevention Rule ASA, along with the Construction Industry Safety Coalition (CISC), 30 trade associations representing virtually every aspect of the construction industry, submitted comments in response to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) concerning the Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in…