This Week in Congress

Congress returns this week for three weeks of legislative work before recessing for the holidays on December 18th. Members of Congress have packed agendas, mirroring their holiday tables, as they return to Washington. They are striving to prevent an affordability crisis with impending spikes in health insurance premiums for millions of Americans. Concurrently, they must maintain their momentum to fund the government, with senators pushing forward their second set of spending bills for federal agencies. Additionally, Congress is tasked with passing the annual defense policy bill, all within the three weeks they are scheduled to be in session before they adjourn for the year.

The House voted on the SCORE Act (H.R. 4312), a bill that would give intercollegiate athletic organizations limited liability protection from antitrust lawsuits and establish federal rules governing name, image, and likeness agreements with student-athletes; three bills (H.R. 1005, H.R. 1049, and H.R. 1069) intended to limit the influence of China and other adversary nations on U.S. elementary and secondary schools; and two bills (H.R. 2965 and H.R. 4305) to limit regulatory burdens on small businesses.  Additionally, the chamber voted on some small business bills (H.R. 2066 and H.R. 3174) that would encourage investment in and financial support for small businesses; a bill (H.R. 4495) that would extend the statute of limitations for fraud under certain pandemic programs; a bill (H.R. 4313) to extend “hospital at home” programs for five years; a bill (H.R. 5346) that would require IRS officers to secure written approval from a supervisor for penalty assessments against taxpayers before communicating with the taxpayer about that assessment; a bill (H.R. 5349) to implement certain Tax Court reforms recommended by the Taxpayer Advocate Service; a bill (H.R. 4429) to change the definition of qualifying investments for venture capital fund advisers under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and another (H.R. 4431) to amend the same statute regarding the definition and criteria for qualifying venture capital funds.

Meanwhile, the Senate considered the confirmation of some of the administration’s judicial and executive branch nominees, and debated a proposal to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits.