A handful of House GOP members continue to thwart Speaker McCarthy’s efforts. For the second time, a procedural vote to advance the annual Pentagon spending bill failed yesterday. Six Republicans voted against the measure, while five voted against it earlier this week. The House and Senate remain deeply divided over spending cuts and providing additional aid to Ukraine.
Speaking of Ukraine, Treasury Secretary Yellen says an EU windfall tax on Russian profits is “sensible.” Secretary Janet Yellen told Bloomberg that the European Union’s (EU) plan to levy a tax on the profits generated by frozen Russian sovereign assets is a “sensible” way to help finance Ukraine’s reconstruction. She noted that the US is discussing the idea with the EU. The tax would be different than seizing the assets, which would be illegal under current law.
Sen. Rubio wants any CTC expansion to have a “work requirement.” There is some bipartisan support to again offer an expanded child tax credit (CTC). The more generous 2021 CTC has been credited with lifting millions of children out of poverty. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) supports expanding CTC but wants the credit applied only to earnings from work. He told NPR’s All Things Considered, “If you turn it into just simply a transfer payment… I think you endanger it moving forward.”
North Carolina GOP lawmakers moving forward with $30 billion state budget plan. The legislature is expected to pass the plan this week. Included in the budget is a cut to the state’s personal income tax rate from 5.25 percent to 3.99 percent by 2025.
To combat climate change, Iceland will levy a tourism tax. The new tax will support climate and sustainability goals. No specifics have been released, but Iceland Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdóttir told Bloomberg the tariff would “not be high” and imposed on tourists staying in Iceland.
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