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Congress is starting work on a tax bill, which will be a possible vehicle for the pension provisions NCTR supports. Those provisions would expand pension portability for teachers and other public employees and raise the maximum annual pension limits. They are contained in H.R. 1102, by Reps. Rob Portman and Ben Cardin, and S. 741 by Sens. Bob Graham and Charles Grassley. Here's the possible timing as laid out recently by various congressional staff members:

Drafting of Tax Bill. House staff has suggested that a preliminary tax bill has been drafted for the Ways and Means Committee. The draft includes a pension section, but we have no idea about whether it includes the text of H.R. 1102. Senate Finance Committee Chairman, Bill Roth (R-DE), has requested his committee members to submit a list of requests for inclusion in their version of the bill by June 11. The Retirement Savings Network, a coalition of public and private sector pension groups of which NCTR is a part, is making calls to Finance Committee members to urge them to include S. 741 on their lists.

Committee Action. After the July 4 recess and by July 16 (for the House Ways and Means Committee) and July 23 (for the Senate Finance Committee), the tax writing committees will complete action on their respective bills. Congress established the deadlines in the Budget Resolution that it passed in April.

Action by Full House and Senate. After action by the committees and before the August recess, not only will each House of Congress complete action on its respective bill but also a conference committee will finish its work.

Obviously, this is a very ambitious schedule. Even if Congress meets it, the bill's future is uncertain. It is expected to reflect the agenda of the Republican leadership and not attract the support of Congressional Democrats. (Note, however, that the pension provisions enjoy bipartisan support.) If this scenario comes to pass, the President will likely veto it and then ... who knows?. We'll keep you posted on developments.