Roundtable President & CEO Jeffrey DeBoer was honored this week with the Lamplighter Award by the American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad), along with Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Mike Johnson, for their leadership and dedication to community and service.

Roundtable Leaders’ Comments

• Coinciding with the 23rd anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks and approaching the first anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel, the evening began with a moment of silence, followed by a tribute from the United States Marine Corps Color Guard.

• Immediate Past Roundtable Chair and event chair, John Fish (Chairman and CEO, Suffolk), introduced House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who, alongside Rabbi Levi Shemtov, presented the Lamplighter Leadership Award to Speaker Johnson.

• In his introductory remarks as the event chair and last year’s recipient of the Lamplighter Award, Fish stated, “On this important day, we are all reminded there is far more that unites us as Americans, than divides us.”

• After accepting his award, DeBoer commented,

• “I am honored to support the American Friends of Lubavitch, particularly because of my deep respect and appreciation for the good deeds the Chabad does. But also because of my utter dismay and disgust by the rise of anti-Semitism in America and in many places around the world.
  
  Moreover, I am moved to provide assistance because of my deep distress over the violence that has been planted and allowed to grow on the campuses of our nation’s greatest universities. We must realize that speech is sometimes violent, but violence is never speech. One is allowed, up to a point. The other should never be allowed particularly on university campuses where young people are supposed to be learning.
  
  Together, we must continue to stand up against hate and bigotry in all its forms.” (Jeffrey DeBoer's Speech)

Lamplighters

• The American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad) is part of the largest network of Jewish educational, cultural and humanitarian institutions in the world, with branches in all 50 states and over 100 countries on six continents.

• The annual Lamplighter Awards honor exceptional communal, political, corporate and academic leaders.

Several hundred people attended the event, reception and dinner, including several Senators and House members; Gold Star families and members of the U.S. armed forces; and nearly two dozen ambassadors.

The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on the 2025 tax policy debate, highlighting sharp divides between Republicans and Democrats over the future of the key provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) that are set to expire in 2025. (Watch Hearing | Bloomberg, Sept. 12)

2025 Tax Policy Debate

• Chair Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) pushed for reforms targeting tax avoidance by the ultra-wealthy. Wyden pointed out tactics like "buy, borrow, die," which he argues allow billionaires to accumulate wealth without paying appropriate taxes, and criticized corporate tax loopholes​. (Sen. Wyden Statement)

• Ranking Member Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) defended the TCJA, emphasizing its positive impact on economic growth, job creation, and tax relief for middle-class Americans. Sen. Crapo warned that allowing the TCJA to expire would result in significant tax increases for individuals and businesses, harming the economy. (Sen. Crapo Statement)

• Jeff Brabant, VP of Federal Government Relations at the National Federation of Independent Business, testified on the importance of making the 20% pass-through business income deduction (Section 199A) permanent and shared new data detailing the critical impact the deduction’s looming expiration will have on the small business economy if Congress fails to act. (Brabant Testimony)

• Republicans also pushed back on potential changes to estate taxes, including lowering exemptions or eliminating stepped-up basis, which they argue would hurt family-owned businesses. (Bloomberg, Sept. 12)

• Speaking on the consequences of eliminating stepped-up basis on small businesses, Brabant said, “If you get rid of stepped-up basis and you have an increase in the death tax, you’re looking at a double death tax. Our members who are nearing retirement, this is a critical issue for them. The concern for the small business sector is, often these small businesses are selling these businesses—because they can’t afford to pay these taxes—to larger businesses that don’t have the same footprint in these same small rural communities.”

199A Coalition

• The Roundtable is a founding member of the newly formed PROTECT Coalition, an alliance of small, medium and large pass-through businesses and industries that oppose the expiration of Section 199A. (Politico, Sept. 5)

• The coalition’s mission is to defend vital tax incentives that support the growth and sustainability of successful entrepreneurial businesses across the nation.

• The Real Estate Roundtable’s SVP & Counsel Ryan McCormick said, “Over four million businesses, including two million in real estate, are organized as partnerships. Section 199A was enacted to ensure that these entrepreneurial businesses could compete on a level playing field with large corporations. Permanently extending Section 199A will allow partnerships and other pass-through businesses to continue advancing careers, investing in communities, and expanding economic opportunity for all.”

What’s Next

• The TCJA expiration looms large, with both parties framing the debate around small businesses, working families, and economic growth. Republicans argue that letting it expire would stifle economic activity, while Democrats are focused on shifting more of the tax burden on higher-income earners.

• Next week, on September 18 at 2:00 PM EDT, the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Policy, chaired by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) will hold a hearing on the macroeconomic impacts of potential tax reform in 2025.

The Roundtable’s Tax Policy Advisory Committee (TPAC) will continue to closely track ongoing tax debates in Congress.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael S. Barr previewed the latest revisions to the Basel III Endgame capital requirements this week. Amid industry opposition, Barr scaled back his initial proposal to raise capital requirements for large banks, offering a more measured approach to the rule. (Bloomberg, Sept. 10)

Basel III & CRE

• The revised proposal would increase aggregate Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital requirements for global systemically important banks by roughly 9%—half of what would have been required in the original proposal.

• Banks with assets between $100 billion and $250 billion are now exempt from most of the proposed changes, except for recognizing unrealized gains and losses in regulatory capital. (Politico, Sept. 10)

• "There are benefits and costs to increasing capital requirements," Barr said during his September 9 remarks at the Brookings Institution. "The changes we intend to make will bring these two important objectives into better balance, in light of the feedback we have received." (Barr’s Speech | Bloomberg, Sept. 10)

• The proposal reduces risk weights for certain residential mortgages, and retail exposures, extending this reduction to low-risk corporate debt. However, commercial real estate risk weights remain unclear.

• Non-GSIB banks would see a long-term increase of 3 to 4% in capital requirements, mainly from the inclusion of unrealized gains and losses. Other changes are expected to add just 0.5% to their capital obligations.

• The Roundtable raised industry concerns about the negative impact of the Basel III proposal in a Jan. 12 letter to the Fed and other agencies. The comments outlined how the proposal would decrease real estate credit availability, increase borrowing costs for commercial and multifamily real estate properties, and negatively impact the U.S. economy, concluding with a call to federal regulators to withdraw their proposed rulemaking. (Roundtable Weekly, Mar. 29)

What’s Next

• An open Board meeting is expected to be scheduled to review the revised plan, with an announcement expected as early as Sept. 19. The plan will be open to public comment for 60 days once released.

• While this new proposal is an improvement of the original plan, we remain concerned that any increase in capital requirements will have a pro-cyclical impact on credit capacity and still carry a cost for commercial real estate and the overall economy.

The Roundtable’s Real Estate Capital Policy Advisory Committee (RECPAC) will continue to monitor and respond to any further changes to the Basel III Endgame proposal and other federal policy issues impacting credit capacity and capital formation.