Have Hill leaders discovered a path? The House last night passed legislation to add a debt limit increase to a bill that would prevent some cuts in Medicare. The measure would allow Senate Democrats to raise the debt ceiling on their own but without having to overcome a Republican filibuster. Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly backs the idea, though some Republican senators still could slow things down. Congress needs to extend the borrowing limit within the next few weeks to avoid a federal government default.
About that corporate minimum tax in the BBB. The Washington Post reports senior Treasury Department officials have reservations about the minimum tax on very large corporations that is included in the House version of President Biden’s Build Back Better (BBB) plan. The White House agreed to the minimum tax after Sen. Kyrsten Sinema rejected a corporate tax rate increase. But TPC’s Steve Rosenthal says raising the corporate rate ”is better on efficiency grounds, on equity grounds, on the amount of money that can be raised… I expect the Biden administration, like the rest of us, thinks a corporate minimum tax is second-best to a corporate rate increase.”
Will Senate Democrats try for a 2021 vote on BBB? Some Democrats say the chamber should vote on BBB this year, even without a prior public commitment from hold-out senators Sinema and Joe Manchin. Politico reports that anxious Democrats want to prevent the debate from dragging into next year and are willing to risk defeat now to see if they have the votes for passage.
Treasury moves to curb money laundering by shell companies. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) proposed regulations to require controlling owners of certain companies to register with the federal government. The aim: Prevent individuals from using shell companies or other corporate structures to evade taxes and international finance laws. Said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, “The proposed rule for beneficial ownership reporting is a major step toward addressing the gaps in our corporate transparency framework that allow corruption to flourish and illicit funds to flow into the United States.
Tune in tomorrow for your TPC Prescription with Matt Darling. An employment policy fellow at the Niskanen Center, Matt will discuss how COVID-19 relief bills affected the economic recovery and how Build Back Better might affect the evolving labor markets in the future. Learn more and register here for the noon-time event on Thursday, Dec. 9.
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