This year has passed too quickly. It’s already September 10th!
Only yesterday it was 4th quarter 2012 and we were perplexed about how Congress would handle (or fail to handle) the many expired tax extenders. For patrons of the WOTC program, the time to sweat has come again.
When Congress finally passed an extension for WOTC and numerous other tax incentives in January 2013, it extended the WOTC program through December 31, 2013. In one-hundred and eleven days, WOTC is slated to expire again. At the same time, national budgetary limits are drawing near and the political budget machine is ready to roar.
This morning’s intelligence report from Paul Suplizio, President of the WOTC Coalition, advises WOTC proponents to become fully engaged at this time.
All of us in the WOTC Coalition and allies in the Broad Extenders Group can expect formal negotiations between the President and House and Senate leaders to be joined in earnest soon. It will take intense lobbying in the days ahead to achieve our goals, so prepare now to commit fully to our push for permanent WOTC and start building momentum in case this struggle goes into December and January, as might well be the case.
Our lobbying targets remain House and Senate Republicans because WOTC cannot be renewed without their active support. Our aim is to get rank and file Republicans, especially those with more seniority and influence identified in the Coalition’s fifty-state lobbying plan, telling their leaders they want WOTC to be made permanent in any budget deal.
Read the rest . . . the following is published here with permission (bold emphasis is in the original)
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Subject: House Republicans May Fund Government To December 15th
From: “Paul Suplizio” <wotc@cox.net>
September 10, 2013
House Republicans are considering a proposal by Speaker Boehner to fund the government through December 15. The Continuing Resolution will go to the Rules Committee today and be voted on by the full House Thursday.
Should this proposal become law, a further CR will have to be enacted before December 15th, when Congress will adjourn its first session and not meet again till January.
Because current law requires another sequester, in the form of across-the-board budget cuts, to go into effect on January 15th if Congress and the President fail to agree on an alternative, the December CR will be another “fiscal cliff” requiring all sides to negotiate.
Anticipating this, the White House plans to engage House and Senate leaders on a budget deal immediately after Congress takes votes, if any, on the Syria issue. Their goal is to get a “clean” bill to increase the debt ceiling enough to cover FY 2014 obligations, so that issue will be out of the way and talks can focus on the budget, sequester, and long-run deficit. Speaker Boehner, however, has said many times Republicans won’t increase the debt ceiling without spending cuts, and this demand could result in several short-term debt limit bills as the parties negotiate.
All of us in the WOTC Coalition and allies in the Broad Extenders Group can expect formal negotiations between the President and House and Senate leaders to be joined in earnest soon. It will take intense lobbying in the days ahead to achieve our goals, so prepare now to commit fully to our push for permanent WOTC and start building momentum in case this struggle goes into December and January, as might well be the case.
Our lobbying targets remain House and Senate Republicans because WOTC cannot be renewed without their active support. Our aim is to get rank and file Republicans, especially those with more seniority and influence identified in the Coalition’s fifty-state lobbying plan, telling their leaders they want WOTC to be made permanent in any budget deal.
PAUL E. SUPLIZIO
President, WOTC Coalition