Budget & Taxes

The EITC Modernization Act expands the Earned Income Tax Credit to include more types of dependents (not just "qualifying children" but also "qualifying dependents" including aged dependents and students) and creates a new category for qualifying students who receive Federal Pell Grants or have modified adjusted gross income below 250% of the poverty line. It establishes a minimum $1,200 credit for qualifying students and individuals with certain dependents, allows recipients to receive their credit in monthly payments instead of a single annual payment, and creates new return preparation assistance programs for low-income taxpayers through the IRS. The bill also adjusts eligibility to include individuals as young as 18 without dependents (previously age 25) and adds special provisions for new parents with children born or adopted during the year. These changes aim to increase access to the credit for more working individuals and families while improving the administration of the program.

HR 324, the PPP Shell Company Discovery Act, requires the Treasury Secretary to compile a list of all PPP loan recipients with their names, addresses, tax IDs, and loan amounts, making this information available to the IRS and Department of Justice. It also mandates the IRS to create two specialized lists: one for recipients who didn’t withhold payroll taxes in 2019, and another for recipients who received loans significantly larger than their reported payroll wages. These lists are intended to aid criminal investigations into potential fraud related to PPP loans. The bill directly affects businesses that received PPP loans, particularly those with suspicious payroll tax filings or unusually high loan amounts relative to their payroll.

HR 1169, the Wildfire Victim Tax Relief and Recovery Act, provides tax relief for individuals affected by specific 2024 Texas Panhandle wildfires. It treats compensation received for losses from the Smokehouse Creek, Windy Deuce, Grape Vine Creek, 687 Reamer, and Roughneck fires as tax-free disaster relief payments, covering costs like property damage, closing fees, and inconvenience. The bill also amends tax code provisions to allow wildfire victims to defer capital gains taxes on livestock sold due to fire, similar to existing flood-related rules. These changes apply to payments received on or after February 26, 2024, and tax returns filed for 2024 and later. The law directly benefits Texas residents who suffered wildfire-related losses and received qualifying compensation from government agencies, Xcel Energy, or related entities.

HR 1417 establishes a new program within the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide tailored technical assistance to rural health care facilities. The program directly supports facilities like hospitals, clinics, and health centers in rural areas by helping them identify operational needs, improve financial management, and access USDA loan and grant programs. Key provisions include prioritizing facilities in medically underserved areas or facing financial vulnerability, with a $2 million annual funding limit for fiscal years 2026-2030. The program requires annual reports on outcomes and effectiveness to Congress, focusing on preventing facility closures and strengthening rural health care delivery.

Maintaining and Enhancing Hydroelectricity and River Restoration Act This bill establishes a new investment tax credit in the amount of 30% of the basis of any hydropower improvement property. The bill defines hydropower improvement property as property that adds or improves fish passage at a qualified dam; maintains or improves the quality of the water retained or released by a qualified dam; promotes downstream sediment transport and habitat maintenance; upgrades, repairs, or reconstructs a qualified dam to meet safety and security standards; improves public uses of, and access to, public waterways impacted by a qualified dam; removes an obsolete river obstruction; or places into service an approved remote dam. Further, written approval for hydropower improvement property must be obtained from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or state or local officials prior to January 1, 2032. The bill also allows an election to claim the investment tax credit for qualified progress expenses for some types of hydropower improvement property in advance of such property being placed into service. Any investment tax credit amount claimed for qualified progress expenses reduces the amount of the investment tax credit that may be claimed once the hydropower improvement property is placed into service.  The bill authorizes certain entities, including tax-exempt and governmental entities, to treat the investment tax credit for hydropower improvement property as a payment of tax and receive a refund of any overpayment (also known as elective pay).  Finally, the investment tax credit for hydropower improvement property may be transferred (i.e., sold).

HR 1797, the Employment Services and Jobs Parity Act, amends the Wagner-Peyser Act to extend federal employment service funding to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and American Samoa. It directly affects these territories' employment service programs by requiring the federal government to provide them with funding equal to half of what Guam receives under the current allotment system. The key provision, added to Section 6(c)(2), mandates that starting after fiscal year 2025, CNMI and American Samoa will each receive an annual allotment equal to one-half of the amount allocated to Guam for that fiscal year. This change ensures these territories receive a guaranteed share of federal funds for employment services, previously only available to Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

This bill reauthorizes and expands U.S.-Israel energy cooperation programs through 2031. It increases annual funding for the BIRD Energy Foundation from $2 million to $5 million and for the U.S.-Israel Energy Center from $4 million to $7 million, extending support through fiscal years 2026-2031. The bill adds new focus areas like hydrogen energy, fusion, industrial decarbonization, carbon management, agrivoltaics, grid modernization, and energy infrastructure cybersecurity to existing collaboration efforts. These changes directly affect U.S. and Israeli energy companies, researchers, and institutions working on commercializing clean energy technologies.

This bill creates a tax credit for new vehicles with better fuel economy than the median for their model year, with a maximum credit of $5,000. It also imposes a fee on manufacturers of vehicles with fuel economy below the median for their model year. The credit amount is calculated based on how much a vehicle's fuel economy exceeds the median for its model year, using combined fuel-economy ratings expressed in miles per gallon of gasoline equivalent. Vehicle manufacturers must report fuel economy data annually, and the credit can be transferred to dealers who disclose the amount to customers. The bill applies to new passenger cars and light trucks starting with model year 2027.

The WISH Act would create a federal long-term care insurance program to help seniors cover costs of long-term care services. It would provide monthly benefits to seniors who have a serious disability lasting at least a year, have met coverage requirements (6 quarters of coverage in the base period starting in 2026), and have not exhausted their savings. Benefits would be calculated based on the median cost of personal assistance care and the individual's work history. The program would be funded through an initial $12 million appropriation for each of fiscal years 2026-2028, plus $50 million for public education. This would help seniors avoid exhausting their savings or becoming dependent on Medicaid for long-term care costs.

This bill permanently removes the expiration date for employer payments toward employee student loans under tax-exempt educational assistance programs. It amends the tax code to eliminate the previous deadline of January 1, 2026, making the tax exclusion for such payments permanent. The change directly affects employers offering student loan repayment benefits as part of their compensation packages, allowing them to continue providing this tax-advantaged benefit without future expiration. The key provision simply extends an existing tax exclusion indefinitely, with no new requirements or funding changes.