Category: Budget & Policy Landscape

During a week of thousand-point gyrations in the stock market and last-minute congressional votes to keep the government open, President Trump this morning signed a budget deal into law that ended a nine-hour government shutdown.  [Bipartisan Budget Act  legislation (H.R. 1892)]

The budget deal and spending measure – which passed the Senate today just before 2:00 AM, followed by a narrow approval vote in the House about 5:30 AM – includes:

The Congress passed the budget deal and spending measure early on the morning of Feb. 9, hours after the government technically shut down.

• Another short-term Continuing Resolution funding the government through March 23;

• An increase in the debt ceiling that is expected to last one year, addressing the matter until well after the mid-term elections;

• An agreement to increase budget caps – and significantly increase spending – by $320 billion over the next two years, split between defense and non-defense domestic spending;

• Disaster relief funding and renewal of a slew of expired tax provisions.  (The bill does not address the controversial DACA issue – the status of immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.)

Although the measure includes a clean, one-year retroactive extension of the Section 179D tax deduction for energy efficient buildings through 2017, it does not include any technical corrections to the landmark tax overhaul enacted in December. Those corrections are expected later this year in separate legislation.

Next, President Trump is scheduled to submit the Administration’s 2019 budget proposal as House and Senate appropriators begin work on 12 bills that may fund the government beyond March 23 – until the remainder of FY2018 through September 30.

The Senate Finance Committee released its Summary of the Tax Extenders Agreement explaining the extension of several temporary tax provisions.  The Joint Committee on Taxation issued JCX-4-18, estimating that the tax provisions in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018will cost about 17.4 billion dollars over the next decade. 

Other real estate-related tax provisions in the bill extend tax credits for energy-saving improvements to homes, continue the income exclusion when home mortgage debt is forgiven, and extend the individual deduction for home mortgage insurance. 

The National Flood Insurance and EB-5 programs are also extended through March 23, 2018.  This is the 12th short-term, status quo extension of EB-5 since Sept 2015.

Next, President Trump is scheduled to submit the Administration’s 2019 budget proposal on Monday as House and Senate appropriators begin work on 12 bills that may fund the government beyond March 23 – until the remainder of FY2018 through September 30.

Lawmakers struggling over policy and program disagreements related to a $1.2 trillion “omnibus” spending bill have pushed a congressional vote to next week – closer to March 23, when current funding expires.

Lawmakers struggling over policy and program disagreements related to a $1.2 trillion “omnibus” spending bill have pushed a congressional vote to next week – closer to March 23, when current funding expires.

After President Trump signed a budget deal in February that ended a nine-hour government shutdown, a fifth Continuing Resolution is in place that funds the government through next Friday.  House and Senate appropriators have since been working on an all-encompassing omnibus, which would fund government programs through September 30, when the FY2018 budget period ends.  (Roundtable Weekly, Feb. 9)

Of importance to commercial real estate, the National Flood Insurance and EB-5 programs are funded through March 23.  EB-5 is operating under its 12th, short-term, status quo extension since Sept 2015.

Disputes over funding for various programs will delay release of the omnibus spending package text until Sunday night or Monday morning.  That timeline would likely result in a House vote on March 21, leaving only two days for the Senate to vote before current funding expires.  (BNA, March 15)

Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) yesterday noted several programs that he does not expect to be included in the omnibus, including a bill that addresses the future of young undocumented immigrants covered by the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals program (DACA).  Cornyn also said a border security plan, including funding for a wall on the Mexican border, is also unlikely to be included in any funding legislation. (BNA, March 15) 

When asked if a sixth continuing resolution would be necessary to avoid a government shutdown beyond March 23, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL.), chairman of the House Appropriations Transportation-HUD Subcommittee, responded, “Oh God, please tell me no. I don’t think so. Maybe I’m just an optimist, but no, I really don’t think so.”  (BNA, March 15)

An omnibus spending package could be the last major bill passed by Congress before the 2018 midterm elections.

The government’s FY2018 budget and its effect on programs affecting commercial real estate will be a focus of The Roundtable’s April 25 Spring Meeting in Washington, DC.