Message

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Entity 'raquo' not defined Entity 'raquo' not defined Opening and ending tag mismatch: link line 1 and head Specification mandate value for attribute uk-sticky attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag div line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: img line 1 and a Opening and ending tag mismatch: a line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute uk-toggle attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag a line 1 Specification mandate value for attribute uk-navbar-toggle-icon Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 1 and a Opening and ending tag mismatch: header line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute flip Specification mandate value for attribute uk-close attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag button line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 1 and button Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute uk-search-icon Specification mandate value for attribute required attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag input line 1 Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute uk-scroll Specification mandate value for attribute uk-scroll Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 xmlParseEntityRef: no name Opening and ending tag mismatch: body line 1 and header Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute uk-search-icon attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag a line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 1 and a Specification mandate value for attribute uk-height-viewport Specification mandate value for attribute uk-close attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag button line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 1 and button Specification mandate value for attribute required attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag input line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: img line 1 and a Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Opening and ending tag mismatch: a line 1 and div Opening and ending tag mismatch: header line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute uk-sticky attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag div line 1 Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: source line 1 and picture Opening and ending tag mismatch: picture line 1 and a expected '>' Opening and ending tag mismatch: article line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: source line 1 and picture Opening and ending tag mismatch: picture line 1 and a expected '>' Opening and ending tag mismatch: article line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: source line 1 and picture Opening and ending tag mismatch: picture line 1 and a expected '>' Opening and ending tag mismatch: article line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: source line 1 and picture Opening and ending tag mismatch: picture line 1 and a expected '>' Opening and ending tag mismatch: article line 1 and div Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 1 and li Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: source line 1 and picture Opening and ending tag mismatch: picture line 1 and a expected '>' Opening and ending tag mismatch: article line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: source line 1 and picture Opening and ending tag mismatch: picture line 1 and a expected '>' Opening and ending tag mismatch: article line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: source line 1 and picture Opening and ending tag mismatch: picture line 1 and a expected '>' Opening and ending tag mismatch: article line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: source line 1 and picture Opening and ending tag mismatch: picture line 1 and a expected '>' Opening and ending tag mismatch: article line 1 and div Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 1 and li Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: source line 1 and picture Opening and ending tag mismatch: picture line 1 and a expected '>' Opening and ending tag mismatch: article line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: source line 1 and picture Opening and ending tag mismatch: picture line 1 and a expected '>' Opening and ending tag mismatch: article line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: source line 1 and picture Opening and ending tag mismatch: picture line 1 and a expected '>' Opening and ending tag mismatch: article line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: source line 1 and picture Opening and ending tag mismatch: picture line 1 and a expected '>' Opening and ending tag mismatch: article line 1 and div Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 1 and li Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: source line 1 and picture Opening and ending tag mismatch: picture line 1 and a expected '>' Opening and ending tag mismatch: article line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: source line 1 and picture Opening and ending tag mismatch: picture line 1 and a expected '>' Opening and ending tag mismatch: article line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: source line 1 and picture Opening and ending tag mismatch: picture line 1 and a expected '>' Opening and ending tag mismatch: article line 1 and div Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 1 and li Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 1 and ul Specification mandate value for attribute uk-toggle attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag a line 1 Specification mandate value for attribute uk-navbar-toggle-icon Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 1 and a Opening and ending tag mismatch: li line 1 and div Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 1 and nav Opening and ending tag mismatch: li line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute flip attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag div line 1 Specification mandate value for attribute uk-close attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag button line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 1 and button Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute uk-search-icon Specification mandate value for attribute required attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag input line 1 Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 xmlParseEntityRef: no name Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 1 and header Specification mandate value for attribute uk-margin Specification mandate value for attribute uk-search-icon Specification mandate value for attribute required attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag input line 1 Specification mandate value for attribute uk-margin Opening and ending tag mismatch: hr line 1 and div Opening and ending tag mismatch: hr line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Specification mandate value for attribute allowfullscreen attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag iframe line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 1 and iframe Opening and ending tag mismatch: article line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Opening and ending tag mismatch: hr line 1 and div Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 1 and article Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: source line 1 and picture Opening and ending tag mismatch: picture line 1 and a Opening and ending tag mismatch: a line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Opening and ending tag mismatch: hr line 1 and div Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 1 and article Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: source line 1 and picture Opening and ending tag mismatch: picture line 1 and a Opening and ending tag mismatch: a line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Opening and ending tag mismatch: hr line 1 and div Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 1 and article Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: source line 1 and picture Opening and ending tag mismatch: picture line 1 and a Opening and ending tag mismatch: a line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Opening and ending tag mismatch: hr line 1 and div Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 1 and article Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: source line 1 and picture Opening and ending tag mismatch: picture line 1 and a Opening and ending tag mismatch: a line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Opening and ending tag mismatch: hr line 1 and div Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 1 and article Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: source line 1 and picture Opening and ending tag mismatch: picture line 1 and a Opening and ending tag mismatch: a line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Opening and ending tag mismatch: hr line 1 and div Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 1 and article Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: source line 1 and picture Opening and ending tag mismatch: picture line 1 and a Opening and ending tag mismatch: a line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Opening and ending tag mismatch: hr line 1 and div Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 1 and article Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: source line 1 and picture Opening and ending tag mismatch: picture line 1 and a Opening and ending tag mismatch: a line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Opening and ending tag mismatch: hr line 1 and div Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 1 and article Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: source line 1 and picture Opening and ending tag mismatch: picture line 1 and a Opening and ending tag mismatch: a line 1 and div Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 1 and article Opening and ending tag mismatch: article line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute uk-margin Entity 'hellip' not defined Specification mandate value for attribute uk-pagination-next Opening and ending tag mismatch: article line 1 and div Opening and ending tag mismatch: article line 1 and main Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: source line 1 and picture Opening and ending tag mismatch: picture line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Opening and ending tag mismatch: hr line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute uk-scroll Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Specification mandate value for attribute uk-scroll Specification mandate value for attribute alt attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag img line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: hr line 1 and div Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid xmlParseEntityRef: no name Entity 'emsp' not defined Entity 'emsp' not defined Specification mandate value for attribute uk-grid Specification mandate value for attribute uk-totop attributes construct error Couldn't find end of Start Tag a line 1 Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 1 and a Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 1 and footer Opening and ending tag mismatch: footer line 1 and body Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 1 and html Premature end of data in tag article line 1 Premature end of data in tag div line 1 Premature end of data in tag article line 1 Premature end of data in tag div line 1 Premature end of data in tag article line 1 Premature end of data in tag div line 1 Premature end of data in tag article line 1 Premature end of data in tag div line 1 Premature end of data in tag article line 1 Premature end of data in tag div line 1 Premature end of data in tag div line 1 Premature end of data in tag div line 1 Premature end of data in tag div line 1 Premature end of data in tag div line 1 Premature end of data in tag div line 1 Premature end of data in tag main line 1 Premature end of data in tag li line 1 Premature end of data in tag div line 1 Premature end of data in tag div line 1 Premature end of data in tag div line 1 Premature end of data in tag li line 1 Premature end of data in tag ul line 1 Premature end of data in tag div line 1 Premature end of data in tag nav line 1 Premature end of data in tag div line 1 Premature end of data in tag div line 1 Premature end of data in tag link line 1 Premature end of data in tag link line 1 Premature end of data in tag meta line 1 Premature end of data in tag meta line 1 Premature end of data in tag head line 1 Premature end of data in tag html line 1

Congress Aims for Timely Funding Deal

Ash Arnett, NACM’s Washington Representative, PACE Government Affairs

It looks like Congress made a New Year's Resolution of its own: getting its homework done on time!

Congress appears to have reached a tentative deal to keep the government open and fund it through Sept. 30. This is in stark contrast to the last two times (October and November of last year) in which a last-minute extension was passed with little notice and less than a day to spare.


So, the question is: what changed?


First, negotiations quietly began between Senate leadership last month. Previously, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had been giving the Republican controlled House the reins in attempting to negotiate a deal that included more conservative priorities. As that approach has continued to fail and as we now enter the election year, McConnell taking over makes sense.


Second, as I’ve already alluded to, the looming elections tend to bring the parties together as they each try to avoid mistakes that voters are more likely to recall when they go to the polls. For example, even if we had shut down last year in October, if a bipartisan deal was reached in January this year, most voters would recall that Congress did its job, not the failure that occurred more than a year before they cast their ballots. That is far less likely to be the case if Congress shuts down the government this year.


Third, the sheer volume of bills that need to be passed this year demands that Congress step up and make some progress. Congress must pass a tax bill to be implemented before taxes are due in April. That’s because it is likely to include several retroactive provisions that businesses especially want to utilize. Also on the docket are the stalled Farm Bill and FAA Reauthorization, although most expect Congress to punt on the Farm Bill until next year.


Also in the forefront of Republican’s minds are the abysmal productivity statistics for the first year of the Republican-controlled House. In 2023 Congress passed just 34 bills into law, which is the lowest productivity in decades and less than half the number of bills that normally get passed under split control of the House, Senate, and Presidency. Of those, several were just the temporary government funding extensions passed to give Congress more time to get its work done. For those of us working in politics in DC, the year has felt unproductive, and it’s one part gratifying and one part depressing to see this reflected so clearly in the data.


Tax Bill Preview
While negotiators aren’t done writing the bill, Congress is expected to take up a moderately sized bipartisan tax package before the end of January. Specifically, Republicans are looking to once again make research and development costs deductible, as opposed to amortized as they are now. They’re also hoping to do the same for capital expenses. For Democrats, the increased Child Tax Credit of $3,000 for children ages six to 17 (up from $2,000) expired at the end of last year, and they are looking to have it retroactively renewed through 2025, when most of the Trump tax provisions expire, to give themselves more leverage during that debate.


The bottom line: Although these provisions don’t amount to what has historically been called a ‘fiscal cliff’, we are talking about more than $50 billion in tax cuts and incentives. This comes as welcome relief for most U.S. consumers and businesses who are still playing catch up from nearly a year of 6% or higher inflation, and it will likely have a net positive impact on the economy.
Of course, there is more than enough time for negotiations to break down and Congress to stall out, so we’ll just have to wait and see.