Today, the House voted to approve a FY 2022 budget resolution on a party-line vote of 220-212. Passage of the budget resolution is the first step in the budget reconciliation process which directs legislative committees in the House and Senate to begin drafting a bill that could spend up to $3.5 trillion on several legislative initiatives supported by President Biden and congressional Democrats. In order to secure enough votes for the resolution in the House among moderate Democrats, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has agreed to hold a vote on the Senate’s bipartisan infrastructure bill by Sept. 27, 2021.
The budget resolution sets the top-line spending levels for each committee and includes a series of legislative recommendations for the committees to consider as they draft the bill. House and Senate leaders are requesting that the committees examine provisions relating to climate change, housing, education, immigration, child care, health care, paid leave and other social programs. To offset the cost of the legislation, Democrats have instructed the tax-writing committees to examine tax increases on individuals making over $400,000 per year and corporations. It is important to note that these are just recommendations and it is unclear which provisions will have enough support to be included in the final reconciliation bill. Any bill is also expected to more narrow in scope than the $3.5 trillion approved level.
As previously reported, NLBMDA is strongly opposed to any tax proposals that will negatively impact LBM dealers. NLBMDA has been lobbying Capitol Hill for several months urging them to reject any of these proposals, and made significant inroads in the Senate. Most recently, NLBMDA sent a follow-up letter to Congress last week urging them to reject tax increases on lumber and building material dealers. Over the coming weeks as the committees draft implementing legislation, NLBMDA will be working directly with those committees to protect LBM dealers.
For any further questions, please contact NLBMDA's government affairs team at [email protected].
