This week (June 20-24)

Congress in: The House and Senate are in session.

Tax reform blueprint: House Republicans are expected to released their tax reform blueprint as part of the "Better Way" campaign to provide clear policy choices ahead of the elections.

TRA 86 Senate anniversary: June 24 marks the 30th anniversary of Senate passage of the Tax Reform Act of 1986. The bill was enacted later that year following a conference committee.

Last week (June 13-17)

FAA and energy extenders: Members continued to push for extensions of tax credits for energy technologies said to be inadvertently left out of the 2015 tax legislation to be included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill required ahead of the current expiration on July 15. Omitted technologies include geothermal, small wind property, combined heat and power, and fuel cell property. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) suggested that Democratic support for an FAA extension could be compromised if extensions are not included, according to a June 16 report by Morning Consult. "The longer you wait, the more you put at risk," Wyden said. He added, "No one wants to deprive the airports of needed funding." Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY) of the House Ways and Means Committee, who has also been pushing for extension of omitted credits, acknowledged that including extensions in an FAA bill will be a "difficult needle to thread" given the unsuccessful effort to do so in the Senate FAA bill approved in April, Politico reported. "We saw what happened last time when the extension got loaded up, and there was some overreach by many members in the House and Senate and we didn't get anywhere," Reed said. "My fear is that we're going down that same path."

Finance Committee energy hearing: Senator Wyden used a June 14 Finance Committee hearing on "Energy Tax Policy in 2016 and Beyond" to suggest that it is time to take the "mish-mash of energy provisions in the tax code and throw them in the trash can." He called for replacing what he termed "a byzantine web of 44 special interest provisions" with a technology-neutral approach that seeks cleaner energy and transportation, as well as efficiency. Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) criticized President Obama's energy tax policy for increasing costs on average Americans, as well as being "hyper-focused on picking winners and losers," and dedicating resources to unproven technologies. "Ultimately, the energy-related provisions in our tax code — like everything else — will have to be reconsidered as part of our ongoing tax reform efforts," Chairman Hatch said.

Roskam bill: The House June 14 approved by a vote of 240 to 182 Rep. Peter Roskam's (R-IL) Preventing IRS Abuse and Protecting Free Speech Act (H.R. 5053), to prohibit the IRS from requiring a tax-exempt organization to include in annual returns the name, address, or other identifying information of any contributor, with exceptions. "During our Committee's IRS political targeting investigation, we learned that the IRS not only singled out certain organizations for heightened scrutiny, but in some cases it even demanded they turn over a list of all their donors," Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) said. "These invasions of privacy are completely unacceptable." In opposing the bill, the Administration said H.R. 5053 would "constrain the IRS in enforcing tax laws and reduce the transparency of private foundations."

Quote of the Week

"All together, we have now introduced 250 specific ideas to get our country back on track. We don't think America is heading in the right direction. Most people agree with us. That's why we are putting forward these ideas to give us a better way forward. All of these solutions can be found at better.GOP; that's better.GOP. But we're not done. Next week, we will release a plan not just to repeal, but to replace Obamacare. And after that, we will offer a blueprint for fundamental tax reform that will make the tax system more simple and fair and create more jobs. Amid all the noise, we can never forget — amid all the going and coming and up and the down, let's never forget that our job here is to improve people's lives. That's why we are here in these jobs, sent here by our constituents. That is what a better way is all about." — House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), June 16