Archive for February 2025

This Week in Congress This week, Congress was in session with the House voting on a budget resolution and a pair of Congressional Review Act joint resolutions to overturn Biden administration regulations on energy standards for gas-powered tankless water heaters (H.J.Res. 20) and methane emissions fees (H.J.Res. 35). Also, the House voted on seven bills relating…

Budget Reconciliation Update Last week, the Senate passed a FY 2025 budget resolution by a vote of 52-48 (Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) joined all Democrats in opposing the measure). The chamber adopted just one amendment, adding language that calls for the final bill to prioritize “strengthening and improving Medicaid for the most vulnerable populations,” and…

FY 24-25 Government Funding Update The budget reconciliation process is separate from the annual appropriations process that funds government operations. The current continuing resolution (CR) on government funding expires in 18 days, so Congress has until March 14 to pass either an appropriations package or another CR that would continue funding at FY 2024 levels.…

ASA Supports the Permanency of Section 199A ASA, along with the Main Street Partnership, sent a letter to House Congressional Leadership urging them to make permanent Section 199A.  Absent action, millions of Main Street businesses organized as S corporations, partnerships, and sole proprietorships will see their taxes go up sharply next year. Taxes on these…

The PRO Act Reintroduced The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act was reintroduced this week, which is legislation that would repeal all state-level laws that prevent employers and unions from requiring workers to pay union dues as a condition of their employment. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the pro-union Republican tapped President Trump for Labor secretary, testified…

Corporate Transparency Act Compliance Reinstated! The nationwide injunction prohibiting enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) has been stayed; meaning, FinCEN will resume enforcement of the required beneficial ownership information (BOI) filings. Simply put, the CTA filing requirements are reinstated. FinCEN has issued a notice that reset the filing deadline for most companies to March…

This Week in Congress This week, the House is in recess and the Senate voted on the nominations of Howard Lutnick for Secretary of Commerce, Kelly Loeffler to lead the Small Business Administration, Kash Patel for FBI Director, and Jamieson Greer to be the United States Trade Representative, along with votes on a budget resolution.…

            Last Wednesday, House Republicans released their budget resolution. The measure proposes raising the debt ceiling by $4 trillion, authorizing committees to increase the deficit by $4.5 trillion over ten years to accommodate tax cuts, mandating at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, and requiring a $300 billion increase in expenditures on defense, immigration enforcement,…

Government Funding Saga Continues! Government funding expires in 25 days.  The parties continue negotiations to agree on a top-line spending number, but Republicans might have to pass another continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government for some temporary period or through the end of the fiscal year (September 30).  Republicans and Democrats have already started…

Federal Employee Terminations The Trump administration has intensified the termination of federal employees. The Office of Personnel Management directed the dismissal of trial and probationary employees last week. These employees, who are generally in their first year or two of employment, have fewer protections compared to more established workers. Although the exact number of terminated…