Await November Elections

One of the casualties of the coming election in Congress is a bill that would extend a package of 50 tax breaks worth $85 billion over the next 10 years to individuals and businesses. The bill has been stalled by Senate republicans angered by the refusal of Sen. Harry Reid to permit any amendments to the bill.

Work began on passage of the bill, which covers tax breaks for auto race tracks, wind energy, school teacher expenses, Puerto Rican rum producers, multinational corporations and others, in May of this year. They are collectively known as “tax extenders” because they expired at the end of 2013. New legislation would revive these credits until the end of 2015.

Republicans want to divide the bill and vote on individual projects, while Democrats are pushing for a single vote on a single bill. Since 36 seats in the Senate are up for re-election, Senator Reid is blocking action on the bill until after the elections.

A compromise bill was passed by voice vote of the Senate Finance Committee earlier this year, but failed to gain traction enough for a vote of the whole Senate.

Sources: Various, including Reuters, Forbes, and National Journal.