This week (January 11-15)

Congress in: The House and Senate are in session for the early part of the week. The President delivers his State of the Union address on January 12. The House-Senate Republican leadership retreat begins January 13.

Last week (January 4-8)

Tax reform in 2016: As the House returned to Washington this week, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) continued to discuss plans for a 2016 House agenda that demonstrates Republican policy ideas in order to "offer the country a clear choice for the direction that we want to lead" and give voters the necessary information to make a decision in the elections. "This means putting together a bold pro-growth agenda," Ryan said during a news conference January 7. "And it means putting it together quickly." The Speaker continued to say the agenda, which is expected to include a tax reform proposal, would be set "collectively by consensus in our conference," as part of a "bottom-up organic process in Congress, not top-down leadership." Speaker Ryan said while the agenda items could not be enacted until a new president takes office, "if we want a mandate to do big things, if we want the mandate from our fellow Americans to fix this country's problems and get us back on the right track, we're going to have to offer a real agenda to the country." Politico January 7 reported Republican aides and lawmakers as saying House votes on Ryan's agenda, which he is aiming to release by March or April, are unlikely for a number of reasons that include: an already crowded legislative calendar for the first part of the year, the difficulty of crafting complete tax and health reform plans under such a tight timeframe, and the fact Republican-authored plans are unlikely to be signed by the President. Citing the distinction between Republicans and President Obama on tax policy, Ryan, asked, "Do you think he wants to lower tax rates for all families and individuals and small businesses? No, he doesn't. So we know that we're going to have to go to the American people with a mandate, with an agenda, so that they can choose. That's what this is all about." The collaborative process of setting the agenda is expected to continue at the bicameral Republican retreat in Baltimore beginning on January 13.

Ways and Means: Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) this week described a two-pronged approach involving groundwork for comprehensive reform down the road as well as the potential to act on international tax reform sooner. "It's clear that 2016 is going to be a critical year to lay the foundation for tax reform, and there may be an opportunity for significant international tax reform as well," Brady told reporters Jan. 6, as reported by Bloomberg BNA. Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA), chairman of the Subcommittee on Tax Policy, was quoted by Tax Notes as saying Ways and Means would likely hold a series of hearings on how tax policy affects the economy. "We have to determine what it is, as a priority, we can do this year, if anything," Boustany said, as reported by Tax Notes. "The rest of it is how do you set the stage for tax reform after the election?"

President's address, budget: President Obama will deliver his final State of the Union address on January 12. The President this week said he would focus on "big things" to improve the country. The White House previously signaled that the address would omit the typical list of legislative priorities, recognizing the limitations of the President's last year in office and an election year.

Office of Management and Budget Director Shaun Donovan announced this week that the President's FY 2017 budget proposal will be submitted to Congress and publicly released on February 9.

Quote of the Week

"We do believe that there is more that Congress can do to invest in an infrastructure package. The president was obviously pleased to sign a bill, at the end of last year, that would provide five years of funding for transportation infrastructure. But that, essentially, was the bare minimum of funding for five years. The president believes that there's certainly more of an investment that can be made that would have a short-term economic benefit in terms of creating jobs, but would also have a longer-term benefit, in terms of making sure that the U.S. economy could rely upon a modern, 21st-century infrastructure that's in good shape. You know, we've also talked about how the U.S. economy would benefit from closing some tax loopholes that only benefit the wealthy and well-connected, and using some of that revenue to invest in the kinds of things that we know would benefit the U.S. economy." — White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, January 7

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