In November 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better (BBB) package in a partisan vote with all but one Democrat voting for the package and every Republican voting against it.

Following the House vote and just days before Christmas, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) announced he would oppose the roughly $1.75 trillion tax and social spending package as it is currently written. However, in the aftermath of Sen. Manchin declaring his opposition to the bill, Senate Majority Leader Schumer (D-New York) maintains that he will push forward with negotiations with Senate Democrats, including Sen. Manchin, in hopes of eventually passing a pared-down or “skinny" version of BBB.

The legislation is far from dead and Big “I" advocacy efforts against some of the most onerous provisions remain as important as ever. In fact, just this week President Joe Biden hosted a group of business leaders at the White House to highlight certain aspects of the BBB package in the hopes of moving forward with it.

Congressional Democrats are also continuing negotiations regarding the package. This week, discussions continued on specific issues, such as the state and local tax (SALT) deduction. Some Democrats from high-tax states are pushing to repeal the SALT cap and others are characterizing repealing the SALT cap as a giveaway to the rich.

As negotiations over the tax and spending package continue at the White House and among Democrats in Congress, opposing the most onerous tax provisions will be a top issue for the Big “I" at the in-person Legislative Conference, which will take place April 27-29.

While advocacy efforts from the Big “I" have proven successful in shaping the legislation so far, especially regarding some of the most damaging tax provisions, negotiations are continuing and any of these tax provisions could be added back into the legislation, especially as Sen. Manchin has shown an openness to voting for tax increases.

As Democrats push forward with their agenda, the Big “I" will continue to advocate against the most harmful tax provisions, including capping or eliminating the 20% small business deduction; increasing tax rates on Big “I" members both on the corporate side and the individual side, which would impact Big “I" members organized as pass-through businesses; expanding the 3.8% net investment income tax; increasing the capital gains tax; and making changes to stepped-up basis.

Additionally, the Big “I" continues to oppose a new expansive tax information reporting regime that would require financial institutions and other providers of financial services to track and submit information to the IRS on the inflows and outflows of every account above a de minimis threshold of $10,000 during the year.

As negotiations on the BBB package continue in the halls of Congress, the Big “I" will update members on important changes and provide details on the association's advocacy efforts.

Wyatt Stewart is Big “I" assistant vice president of federal government affairs.