19 December 2018 Congress headed toward stopgap funding bill Congress appears poised to approve a stopgap funding bill that does not include tax provisions, with the release in the Senate on December 19, 2018, of a "continuing resolution" (CR) to continue government funding through February 8 for FY2019 appropriations measures that have not yet been enacted. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said the CR would be "clean," suggesting it would not address other issues like tax provisions, though the text of the bill (attached) does address a handful of issues such as an extension of the National Flood Insurance Program for the duration of the CR. The development follows negotiations over an omnibus appropriations bill to fund the seven remaining appropriations measures for the remainder of the fiscal year, which were controversial primarily over a partisan dispute over border wall funding. An omnibus appropriations bill could have carried a tax title, and the pivot to a clean CR leaves unclear whether any tax provisions can clear Congress prior to the end of the year. Lawmakers championing the tax extenders, IRS reform, and retirement savings provisions continue to investigate whether there are any other opportunities to move these items this year, but time is running short.
Document ID: 2018-2517 | |||||
