When Senate action on Federal elections closed, Senator Manchin told reporters he was starting over with a new slate of ideas, and Build Back Better should be set aside--a timely thought for the governing Democrats facing another pandemic emergency requiring Congress to stabilize the economy and avoid a flood of bankruptcies.
The Build Back Better Act was passed by the House and is now before the Senate; it can be passed by the Senate and returned to the House, or it can be allowed to die in the Senate and an entirely new Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act for Fiscal Year 2022 passed by the House.
There are other alternatives, such as a Supplemental Appropriations Bill containing emergency funds the White House wants, and working with Senate Republicans, but for Democrats to win their highest priorities—such as renewal of the Child Credit—too few Republicans would support the bill.
What’s almost certain is that Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Schumer will opt for the same kind of bill as Build Back Better, that is, an Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act for FY 2022, which can be passed by simple majority.
We are aware that action on the Build Back Better Act has been held up by a Continuing Resolution which expires on February 18th. This means very soon Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer must determine what route to take on either Build Back Better or an alternative bill.
Ideally, Democratic leaders should aim to get a bill done by March 1st. At that point, five months of Fiscal Year 2022 will have expired with the government still funded on last year’s budget, creating big and wasteful management problems, especially for Defense. Time is running out.
In the tax provisions of an omnibus, TIA strongly renews support for the Employee Retention Credit (ERC), as enacted by the American Rescue Plan on March 5, 2021 and terminated by Congress effective October 1, 2021.
The Employee Retention Credit was abruptly terminated by the Senate and House when it had barely begun. We strongly opposed this action at the time, for it cut off billions of dollars of COVID-19 emergency funds to support employers’ hiring, payrolls, and cash flow through the end of 2021.
TIA will work hard for renewal of the Employee Retention Credit and enactment of the Suozzi two-year special WOTC for 2022 and 2023; renewal of VOW To Hire Heroes Act veterans target groups and recommended new WOTC target group for military spouses; and new provisions for people with disabilities, & authority to claim the credit against payroll tax.
Major car manufacturers have launched a new attempt to delay Massachusetts’ right to repair legislation. In 2020, residents in the state voted in favor of updated right to repair laws that would let independent auto repair shops receive telematics data from vehicles. Now, groups representing auto manufacturers are introducing their own new proposals that would delay the law’s implementation.
If passed, the two new proposals, first viewed by Motherboard, would push back the starting date of Massachusetts’ right to repair law to 2025, three years later than the original 2022 start date. Supporters of the proposal argue the extra years would give automakers more time to comply with the laws.
Massachusetts’ 2020 law was intended to make it easier for small auto shops to access diagnostic data about vehicles without the need for proprietary tools available only to manufacturers. When the law goes into effect, it would require any automaker doing business in the state to allow this telematics data to be accessible through a smartphone app.
TIA strongly supports the implementation of Massachusetts' right to repair law and we are opposed to any delays.
On January 24th, TIA joined with 66 other stakeholders on a letter to House and Senate leadership urging quick finalization of the fiscal year (FY) 2022 appropriations process. Until Congress passes full-year appropriations for FY '22, we are still operating with FY 2021 appropriations levels. That means that until the FY '22 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies (THUD) appropriations bill is finalized, the Department of Transportation is relying on a Continuing Resolution (CR) through February 18, 2022, and is unable to realize the full funding authorized under the IIJA.
Without FY '22 appropriations in place, states and local governments will be unable to access the IIJA’s roughly 20 percent funding increase for highway formula programs, along with any new transportation initiatives that Congress provided for in the IIJA. Due to the continuing resolution, the obligation limitation that dictates spending levels for many federal transportation programs remains well below what is included in the infrastructure legislation. And unfortunately, that means a delay of many of the benefits of the IIJA for roadway users.
TIA states, “We do not make this request lightly, but if Congress is unable to finish the THUD Appropriations bill by February 18, 2022, we ask that Congress includes an anomaly to provide full obligation limitation levels in any future CR in order to fully honor the IIJA’s funding levels for all transportation-related programs.”
Click here to read the full text of the letter. Additionally, the letter was covered in an article by Land Line, available here: https://landline.media/highway-coalition-urges-congress-to-finalize-appropriations/