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Pat Soldano welcomed supporters to the call, which focused on the 2020 Election and its potential impact on Policy and Taxation Group’s (PATG) supporters.
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First, Frank Luntz (FILuntz, Inc) provided an update on the outcome of the 2020 Election. After expressing frustration with how President Trump handled the first debate– Frank suggested that the way the President is handling his defeat at the ballot box could potentially have an impact on the two Georgia Senate runoff elections in January. According to Frank, if Democrats are able to win both Senate races – which is a tall order – PATG supporters are likely to face an onslaught of harmful policies that could be enacted if Senate Democrats ultimately have sufficient votes to end the filibuster and pass legislation with a simple majority vote. As such, he encouraged all PATG supporters to engage and support Senators Perdue (R-GA) and Loeffler (R-GA). Frank then shared the results of a post-election night poll and indicated that support for repeal of estate tax has declined to 47% for all voters, ( 63% for republicans, 44% for democrats, and 37% for swing voters) but that reducing the rate of estate tax polled higher with voters at 52%, (65% republicans 42% democrats and 48% swing voters), this is after they are told the $11.5 million exemption level and the 40% rate.
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Next, former U.S. Senator Mark Begich (D-AK) (Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber, Schreck) leveraged his experience in Congress to provide insight into what to expect next Congress. Among the policy priorities the Biden Administration can be expected to pursue are changes to U.S. tax policy. That said, unlike Frank, Senator Begich did not believe Senate Democrats would end the filibuster, as Members such as Senators Manchin (D-WV), Feinstein (D-CA), and others seem unlikely to agree to do so. As such, both parties will need to work together to enact legislation next Congress, meaning we are unlikely to see significant changes to current U.S. tax law.
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Finally, Russ Sullivan (Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber, Schreck) and Brandon Román (Squire Patton Boggs) provided insight into what to expect in the lame duck session of Congress in light of the 2020 Election results. Among the items remaining to be addressed this Congress include FY 2021 federal government spending legislation and, potentially, another round of relief to address the economic impact of COVID-19. Moreover, Congress will also need to pass its annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which sets out the nation’s defense priorities and often includes various extraneous provisions. Among those provisions included in the House-passed NDAA is the Corporate Transparency Act, which would amend U.S. banking laws to require businesses to disclose certain information to help prevent terrorism financing and other illicit activity. PATG previously submitted a letter in opposition of this provision and is closely monitoring developments to keep supporters apprised.
To conclude, Pat again thanked supporters and expressed her commitment to continuing PATG’s important work next year.
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