Budget

On Thursday, the Republicans in the House narrowly passed the Senate’s FY18 budget resolution by a vote of 216-212, paving the way for the GOP’s tax plan to come over the next few weeks.  The budget will allow Republicans to pass a tax overhaul that adds up to $1.5 trillion to the deficit through reconciliation, which only requires 51 votes to pass the Senate (i.e. cannot be filibustered).  It is said that the tax overhaul plan will be unveiled in the House on November 1 with a goal of Senate passage before Thanksgiving.

ACA Replacement

The Alexander/Murray bipartisan plan to stabilize the individual health insurance market would reduce annual deficits by $3.8 billion over the coming decade, according to the CBO.  The new estimate could give momentum to the Alexander/Murray proposal that would extend subsidies to insurance companies designed to help lower out-of-pocket costs for some low-income Americans for two years.  That bill faces competition from the more conservative bill authored by Senators Hatch and Representative Brady that would tie the subsidy payments to an elimination of mandates from the Affordable Care Act that requires most Americans to purchase health insurance and most companies to offer it.