It might be a new year, but a report released today finds that the news is the same as 2011 – the Democrats’ health care law is harming the ability of employers to offer health coverage.  Findings in the newly released 2011 California Employer Health Benefits Survey reveal that the proportion of California employers offering coverage to their employees declined from 73 percent to 63… Read more

Three House Republican lawmakers are asking the IRS to explain how nonprofit seniors group AARP is able to shield hundreds of millions of dollars from tax levies even though, they say, the group is effectively in “day-to-day control” of products offered by private firms with the AARP stamp of approval. Rep. David Reichert, R-Wash., said companies that use AARP’s brand to sell… Read more

 "If they pass the two-month extension, it's worse than last year for payroll administration, definitely," said Mike O'Toole, senior director of government relations for the American Payroll Association, a professional group. Payroll Executives Complain About Lawmakers' Penchant for… Read more

Washington, DC – Health Subcommittee Chairman Wally Herger (R-CA), Ways and Means Member Dave Reichert (R-WA), Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Charles Boustany, Jr. (R-LA) sent a letter to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Douglas Shulman with new information relevant to AARP’s tax-exempt status.  Specifically, the letter requests that IRS examine new information regarding… Read more

Washington, DC – Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) announced today that he will introduce a bill tomorrow that would extend for two months the payroll tax holiday, unemployment benefits, reimbursements to doctors treating Medicare patients, and the nation’s primary welfare program – Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. “We heard the concerns of America’s job… Read more

The differences between the bipartisan, House-passed “Middle Class Tax Relief & Job Creation Act” and what the Senate did so it could go on vacation could not be clearer. The House bill put the American people first.  It provided certainty for middle-class families struggling to make ends meet by extending the payroll tax holiday; It provided certainty for those left… Read more

Despite their rhetoric, when Democrats controlled Congress they repeatedly let jobless benefits expire for our nation’s unemployed and missed deadlines to prevent reimbursement cuts to doctors treating America’s seniors.  Their actions – refusing to either pass a one-year extension of critical benefits or appoint conferees to resolve the differences between the House and Senate bills… Read more

Washington, DC – Today, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) appointed Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) to serve on a Conference Committee to be made up of House and Senate members to resolve differences over H.R. 3630, The Middle Class Tax Relief & Job Creation Act.     "I urge my Democrat colleagues to quickly appoint conferees so we can ensure middle-class… Read more

Under the House-passed payroll tax cut bill, an American worker earning $50,000 next year is 100 percent certain to receive a $1,000 payroll tax cut.  By comparison, the legislation passed by the Senate on Saturday would grant only a $167 payroll tax cut to the same worker.  Despite Senate Democrats’ insistence that they will work to extend the payroll tax cut beyond February of… Read more

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), writing on behalf of construction-related firms with nearly 2 million employees:  “[T]he proposed two month stop-gap measure merely serves to delay the inevitable tough decisions, compounding the climate of uncertainty that continues to impact small businesses...Instead of passing the buck for another two months, the House and Senate must… Read more