President Trump was to host manufacturers at the White House to observe Manufacturing Day across the United States. The Hill reports that President Trump is highlighting the National Association of Manufacturers’ support for his push for tax reform.
NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons and more than one dozen manufacturing industry representatives were to attend a ceremony at the White House to observe Trump proclaiming today as National Manufacturing Day. The event “comes one week after Trump called for a ‘giant, beautiful, massive’ tax cut at the NAM’s board meeting,” the Hill reported.
As Alabama’s exclusive representative to the NAM, the Business Council of Alabama is an “endorser” of Manufacturing Day, which was proclaimed for today by Governor Kay Ivey as Manufacturing Day in Alabama as she attended a manufacturing event in Birmingham.
The NAM has been pushing for lower tax rates for corporations and small businesses, strong incentives for research and development, and makes the US. tax system more internationally competitive, the Hill reported.
“On Manufacturing Day, America’s dreamers, doers and makers open our doors to modern manufacturing and unveil the opportunities that lie beyond them to students, parents, educators and community members across the country,” Timmons said. “It is our industry’s biggest stage to recruit and inspire next-generation manufacturers to create and build their – and our – future in America.”
The NAM says that modern manufacturing will offer an estimated 3.5 million high-tech, well-paying jobs in the next 10 years. As many as 2 million could go unfilled because of a lack of skilled workers.
THE U.S. HOUSE SENDS BUDGET BILL TO SENATE
The U.S. House on Thursday passed its version of the government budget for the current fiscal year, setting the stage for tax reform. (The government is operating on a previously passed continuing resolution that extends spending authority into this fiscal year, which began Oct. 1.)
The House budget resolution that passed 219-206 largely along party lines includes major spending cuts demanded by the party’s conservative wing, but the party’s focus is now on passing a tax bill, the Washington Post reported. Alabama’s six Republican members of Congress voted for the bill. The sole Democrat voted against it with her party.
The legislation contains special procedures that would allow Republicans to pass the bill over a potential Democratic filibuster in the Senate. “Our budget specifically paves the way for pro-growth tax reform that will reduce taxes for middle-class Americans and free up American businesses to grow and hire,” House Budget Committee Chairman Diane Black, R-Tenn., said during floor debate.
An agreed-upon resolution would give tax-writing committees the ability to write a bill. Republicans say the bill will cause economic growth that will offset the revenue loss. The House budget envisions a tax bill that will largely pay for itself but also allowing for up to $203 billion in spending cuts.
MEANWHILE, THE SENATE HAS ITS BUDGET PLAN
The Senate Budget Committee on Thursday pushed a budget resolution that would help pave the way for Republicans to pass a tax reform bill without Democratic support, the HILL reported.
The resolution passed 12-11 along strict party lines and is expected to be taken up on the Senate floor in two weeks. The Senate is not in session next week. Alabama U.S. Sen. Luther Strange is on the committee.
The budget document’s central purpose was to open the reconciliation process for tax reform, which will allow Republicans to avoid a Democratic filibuster, the HILL reported. The resolution will allow the tax plan to add up to $1.5 trillion to the deficit over the course of a decade.
“This budget will put in motion a process for pro-growth reform that will cut taxes on American families and job creators by a net $1.5 trillion over 10 years,” Committee Chairman Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., said.
The resolution keeps overall spending levels steady from 2017, unlike its counterpart in the House, which cuts nondefense spending by $5 billion and increases defense spending by $72 billion. The House version does not include $1.5 trillion in deficit allowances in the Senate bill but demands $203 billion in deficit reduction from various committees.
Congress extended 2017 funding levels into the first three months of the fiscal year, which began on Sunday and which continues until Dec. 8.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
U.S. Chamber Hears Tax Reform Positives
U.S. Chamber of Commerce (Hackbarth 9/29) “This week, Congressional leaders and members of the Trump administration – the ‘Big Six’ – released a tax reform framework. One member of that team – House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) – told business leaders at the U.S. Chamber ‘tax reform is all about delivering more jobs, bigger paychecks, and fairness’.
“‘For businesses, Brady said, tax reform will result in ‘the lowest tax rates in modern history for American businesses of all sizes and all structures’, creating ‘a more level playing field where [businesses] can succeed and grow’. The proposal would reduce the corporate tax rate to 20%–down from 35%–and reduce the rate for passthrough businesses-which most small businesses fall under-to no more than 25%–down from a combined federal and state rate of as high as 45%.
“The number of individual tax brackets would be reduced from seven to three. The Alternative Minimum Tax for both individuals and businesses would be repealed, saving people from having to calculate their taxes twice each year. Also, the framework proposes to eliminate the estate tax measures, like taking out bank loans just to pay the tax.
“The business community is fully on board. ‘The Chamber strongly agrees with the chairman that pro-growth tax reform is the most important way we can help Main Street job creators’, said Suzanne Clark, Senior Executive Vice President, U.S. Chamber of Commerce.”
Roll Call’s 2018 Election Guide
ROLL CALL (10/5) “Your road map to the state-by-state battles that will decide the balance of power in Washington. Inside Elections with Nathan Gonzales/Roll Call ratings are categorized to reflect the degree to which one party or the other is projected to win and do not reflect the closeness of the contest. Click on each district or state to find out detailed information about the race and area.”
EPA To Argue Obama Climate Rule Is Illegal
The HILL (Henry 10/6) “The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reportedly set to repeal the Obama administration’s landmark climate rule for power plants, arguing that it violates federal law. The EPA is planning to target the legality of the central tenant of the Clean Power Plan, Bloomberg reported, citing agency documents: that it directs states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions however they saw fit.
“Under the rule, the federal government set reduction carbon targets for states and then asked them to find ways to hit those targets on their own, rather than by regulating a single source of pollution. That means some states are planning to replace carbon-heavy coal power plants with cleaner energy such as natural gas or renewables.
“But the EPA is now set to say that a regulation affecting the broader electricity sector is outside the agency’s purview. The EPA will argue that ‘the Clean Power Plan departed from this practice by instead setting carbon dioxide emission guidelines for existing power plants that can only realistically be effected by measures that cannot be employed to, for, or at a particular source’, the documents say.
Though the Supreme Court has frozen implementation of the rule, a federal court has not ruled on the validity of the claims from the attorneys general. Officials will announce their intention to repeal the Clean Power Plan soon and solicit comments on how to replace it, if at all, according to reports.”