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Financial Services Report

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Our Take

Because of a quirk in the calendar, millions of Americans will be rushing to the Post Office today to file their taxes.  Without getting into a political discussion about whether our taxes are too high, or not high enough, it is worth noting that many defenders of the federal income tax often quote Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, who famously said that taxes are the cost of living in a civilized society.   That quote comes from a 1927 case, Compania General de Tabacos de Filipinas v. Collector of Internal Revenue,  and the full quote is:

It is true, as indicated in the last cited case, that every exaction of money for an act is a discouragement to the extent of the payment required, but that which in its immediacy is a discouragement may be part of an encouragement when seen in its organic connection with the whole. Taxes are what we pay for civilized society, including the chance to insure. 

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This Week on the Hill: Senate to Finish FAA, Energy Bills Before Moving to Approps; House Works on IRS, Puerto Rico

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With today marking the annual income-tax filing deadline, the House starts the week with a series of bills intended to reform the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The four pieces of legislation would freeze IRS hiring until it certifies no IRS employee has a “seriously delinquent” tax debt (H.R. 1206), bar the rehiring of employees who were fired for misconduct (H.R. 3724), require IRS user fees to be deposited into the Treasury’s general fund (H.R. 4885), and finally, end all IRS bonuses until the agency develops a comprehensive customer service strategy (H.R. 4890). All four bills were advanced in a contentious House Ways and Means Committee hearing last week, and none are expected to be taken up in the Senate.

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Health Policy Report

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The Week in Review
 
Last week both chambers were in session, with the House returning from recess to pass a trio of financial services bills and the Senate continuing to deliberate on legislation to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

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Stuart Chapman Joins Thorn Run Partners

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For immediate release: April 15, 2016


Contact: Andrew Rosenberg, (202) 247-6301

Thorn Run Partners (TRP) announced today the addition of lobbyist Stuart Chapman as Partner. A veteran legislative and public affairs strategist with over 15 years of policymaking experience as a senior congressional aide in both the Senate and House of Representatives, Stuart maintains a deep reservoir of strong relationships with lawmakers, staff, and stakeholders.

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TRP’s Nels Johnson Talks Portland Housing in The Oregonian

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This morning, Portland's major daily newspaper, The Oregonian, published an article on the City Club of Portland's report on housing affordability in the city, featuring comments from Thorn Run's Nels Johnson. Mr. Johnson played an integral role in the drafting of the report and noted that there was a "broad agreement on the underlying issue" of providing more 'middle housing' for the city. For Mr. Johnson, the housing issue in Portland requires more urgent action than currently proposed in the state's legislature. "This is a problem that can't wait," Johnson said. "And it's going to require some government intervention."
 

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This Week on the Hill: House Returns to Trio of Business Bills; Senate to Finish FAA Work

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Both chambers are back in session this week for what is essentially the start of a four-month period of intense work on a “three weeks in, one week out” schedule until the party conventions in late July. This week, the House looks to tackle a series of financial and broadband regulatory bills, while the Senate aims to finish legislation that would reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) through September 2017.

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Financial Services Report

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Near Term

  • The House is scheduled to take up a bill, H.R. 3340 that would require the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) to be funded through the congressional appropriations process.  
  • Speaking of spending issues, the House Financial Services Committee has a mark-up scheduled for its budget estimates.  If past precedence is prologue for future occurrences, then partisan fireworks should be expected as both sides retreat to well-worn positions on putting the CFPB into regular appropriations and repealing the orderly liquidation authority established in Dodd-Frank.
  • The House Natural Resources Committee is expected to hold a hearing on its legislation to establish a control board to resolve the Puerto Rico debt crisis.
  • The Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee will hear from the Chairs of the SEC and the CFTC as the subcommittee continues to advance its spending bills.
  • Senate Banking Subcommittee on Securities will hold a hearing on the fixed-income markets.

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Health Policy Report

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The Week in Review
 
While the House remained in recess, the Senate returned to approve a bill related to trade secrets and begin negotiations on a reauthorization for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). On Monday, senators approved a measure (S. 1890) addressing the misappropriation of trade secrets that would allow effected companies to seek civil penalties as redress for stolen trade secrets rather than relying completely on federal law enforcement. The bipartisan bill was passed on a unanimous vote of 89-0, clearing the way for work on another bipartisan cause – reauthorization of the FAA.

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Today on the Hill: FAA Debate; Wisconsin Primary

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The Senate well spend the day debating whether to move forward on legislation to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).  Yesterday, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) filed for cloture on a motion to proceed to a House-passed tax bill (H.R.636) that would serve as a vehicle for a measure reauthorizing the FAA through Sept. 30, 2017. Using the tax bill as the shell would ease the way for Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) to offer a floor amendment that would extend Airport and Airway Trust Fund excise taxes that finance aviation system improvements. The FAA bill approved by the Senate Commerce Committee didn’t include the tax provisions, which would normally be marked up by the Finance Committee.  Last week, President Obama signed into law a temporary extension, through July 15, of the FAA’s operating and revenue-collection authority.

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Brave New World: Medicare’s Advanced Payment Models

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This post, penned by Thorn Run's Billy Wynne and Max Horowitz, originally appeared in Health Affairs Blog.

The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) established a new framework for Medicare physician payment. Under the law, beginning in 2019, health care professionals participating in the program will come to a crossroads on their path to reimbursement.

In one direction—the default direction—they will be subject to the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), a revamp of Medicare’s fee-for-service (FFS) payment system that consolidates existing quality programs into a unified reimbursement component. The MIPS is examined in considerable detail in another Health Affairs Blog post.

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