December 17, 2012
As we move into the last two weeks of the calendar year – and come ever closer to the edge of the “fiscal cliff” – House Speaker Boehner (R-OH) has offered to allow a tax increase on millionaires, which is a significant shift toward President Obama’s position on raising tax rates for the wealthy. But… Read More
December 14, 2012
President Obama and House Speaker Boehner (R-OH) met for almost an hour yesterday at the White House to discuss issues related to the fiscal cliff, but there were no obvious signs of progress. Instead, both sides appear to be holding fast to their partisan views on taxes and spending. This is the second face-to-face meeting… Read More
December 12, 2012
Appropriators had been hoping to move an FY2013 omnibus during the current lame duck session, but with time running out it now appears unlikely that they will move any FY2013 spending bills by the end of the year. Instead, Congress is most likely to pass another six-month CR to cover the remainder of FY2013, probably… Read More
December 6, 2012
Negotiations continue between the Obama administration and congressional leaders on deficit reduction legislation that would need to be approved by Congress before the end of the year to avoid the sequester and tax increases. Last week the President released his proposal, which took a hard line on both taxes and entitlement spending, with increased tax… Read More
November 29, 2012
Today, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said that “no substantive progress has been made” on fiscal cliff negotiations, and warned that if Democrats don’t come up with a better compromise on entitlements and spending then “there’s a real danger of going off the fiscal cliff.” This confirms that talks to stave off the full range… Read More
November 28, 2012
As the Los Angeles Times is reporting, three republican senators introduced an alternative version of the Dream Act on Tuesday that would give legal status for young immigrants brought to the US unlawfully as children. The effort, called the Achieve Act and launched by retiring senators Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX) and… Read More
November 20, 2012
Following their private meeting last week, President Obama and House and Senate leaders expressed confidence that they would be able to reach agreement on a means of averting the year-end “fiscal cliff” of expiring tax benefits and deep, across-the-board budget cuts required by the sequester. Congress is out of session this week for the Thanksgiving… Read More
November 13, 2012
Congress returns to Capitol Hill today to kick off the lame-duck session. They are expected to work this week, break next week for Thanksgiving, and then return the last week in November for three more weeks. During this session lawmakers will tackle big issues including sequestration, taxes, and disaster aid – among other issues. Congress… Read More
September 19, 2012
The Senate’s in at 10:00am and will continue work on a veterans jobs bill. A series of votes are possible. The chamber will recess from 12:30 to 2:15pm for weekly caucus lunches. Then, the senate will hold a procedural vote on the House-passed six-month continuing resolution to fund the government. The House is in at… Read More
September 18, 2012
Today the UW Offices of Research, Federal Relations, and Planning and Budget released a joint update on the impacts of the sequester on the UW. This is the first of such updates that we will produce and disseminate to the UW community.
