Congress Debates Cap On SALT As May 17 Tax Deadline Looms

A short-lived Trump-era rule that made it easier for businesses like Uber and Lyft to classify workers as independent contractors officially ended Thursday after it was terminated by the Labor Department. “By withdrawing the Independent Contractor Rule, we will help preserve essential worker rights and stop the erosion of worker protections that would…

—The U.S. economy is quickly strengthening, inflation is showing signs of picking up and the nation is making progress toward defeating the viral pandemic. But on Wednesday, Chair Jerome Powell made clear that the Federal Reserve isn't even close to beginning a pullback in its ultra-low interest rate policies. The Fed also said it would keep buying $120 billion…

Eligible people can apply to recover up to $9,000 of qualifying funeral or burial expenses incurred after Jan. 20, 2020. “At FEMA, our mission is to help people before, during and after disasters,” acting FEMA Administrator Bob Fenton said in a prepared statement. To file a claim, you need to call a toll-free hotline set up by FEMA.

—The Republican attorneys general of Kentucky and Tennessee have added their voices to those in several other states who are objecting to a provision in the $1.9 trillion pandemic aid plan that bars states from using relief money to offset tax cuts. Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III filed suit…

Michael Gianaris was ecstatic when Amazon named Long Island City in 2018 as a front-runner for its new headquarters, a project that would bring 25,000 jobs and $2.5 billion in construction spending to his district in Queens. Consumer activists, small business owners and state lawmakers across the U.S. are increasingly calling for measures to rein in…

IRS is delaying the tax filing deadline to mid-May. May 15 is a Saturday and the IRS typically delays filing deadlines that fall on a weekend or holiday to the next business day. The IRS and Treasury didn’t respond to requests to comment on the delay.

The idea of a one-time, across-the-board extension makes a great deal of sense when you consider the extra long list of challenges and changes relating to the filing of 2020 tax returns, which remain due April 15. The American Institute of CPAs is calling for extending the filing and payment deadline until June 15.

Major business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, are pushing Congress to extend the Paycheck Protection Program through the end of the year amid concerns that small businesses need help beyond the measures included in President Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.

—New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday appointed a former federal prosecutor and an employment lawyer to investigate allegations that Gov. Joon Kim, who was the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York for parts of 2017 and 2018, will join the employment lawyer Anne Clark, in conducting the probe, the attorney general's office said.

Gary Gensler, who was a chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission during the Obama administration, testified by video for his confirmation hearing by the Senate Banking Committee. He was asked about the roiling stock-trading drama involving GameStop shares that has spurred clamor for tighter regulation of Wall Street.

Elizabeth Warren, D- Massachusetts, issued the following news release:. United States Senator Elizabeth Warren, member of the Senate Banking Committee, and Senator Sherrod Brown, Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, sent letters on Friday, February 26, 2021, to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, Vice Chair Randal Quarles, Federal Deposit Insurance…

—President Joe Biden's nominee to run the federal consumer watchdog agency faced some hostile questioning from Republican Senators on Tuesday, but appeared to be likely to be confirmed with Democrats controlling a majority in the Senate. President Donald Trump's director of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Kathy Kraninger, was asked to resign by…

On his first day in office, Biden asked President Donald Trump's CFPB director, Kathy Kraninger, to resign. Republicans have been critical of the CFPB from the onset, arguing that the bureau’ s structure grants too much power to one person, its director. The CFPB is also not subject to the annual congressional budget process, instead receiving all its funds from the…

Former President Trump attacked the ACA over the past four years and Republican leaders in Congress and several states tried to dismantle it since it was passed a decade ago. Biden and Congress will have the opportunity to improve ACA. In the short term, the ACA is likely to be beefed up as part of the COVID-relief bill moving through Congress.

“Security, security, security,” Mrs. Pelosi said in a letter to fellow House Democrats. They suggested Mrs. Pelosi or her office rebuffed efforts to have National Guard troops in place ahead of time because of how that might appear. “Five weeks have passed since the January 6th attack on the Capitol building, and many important questions about your responsibility for…

Complaints about credit reports accounted for more than 50 percent of all consumer complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in 2020. Incorrect information on credit reports was the top complaint according to the CFPB. “Credit report errors are all-too-common and can do serious lasting damage to your financial security,” said Syed Ejaz, policy…

Feb. 9— Kentucky Auditor Mike Harmon provided more details Tuesday about the state's beleaguered unemployment insurance office and fund, saying his findings “should be deeply concerning to taxpayers and those who have filed for unemployment insurance benefits.” Harmon spokesman Michael Goins said none of the federal law violations rose to the level to have…

Feb. 8— TOPEKA— It was bad enough that Jon Carlson's personal information was used to file a fraudulent unemployment claim in December. Then, a few days ago, the Lawrence resident received a form saying he owed taxes on the benefits. Carlson, a construction observer and inspector, decided to email Amber Shultz, a former neighbor of his parents in Lawrence who had just…

LOUIS— For more than seven years after the death of a retired St. Louis teacher in 2012, her daughter kept collecting nearly $150,000 in pension benefits, federal charging documents unsealed this month say. She appeared in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on Monday. The Public School Retirement System of the City of St. Louis paid a total of $149,475 into the account…

By the end of last week, you could buy a share of GameStop— successor to Philadelphia’ s old Electronics Boutique digital-games store chain— for $64, a fat discount from the $300- plus you would have needed on Jan. 27. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D- N.Y., were bashing“ Wall Street” and demanding the federal government investigate why small investors weren’ t all able to buy…

Under the terms of the settlement, Northwestern Mutual will pay a $287,000 administrative penalty and will be required to report quarterly to the Department on its claims payments for the next two years.

The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York, James P. Kennedy Jr., issued the following news release on Feb. 4, 2021:. U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that a federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Larry Jordan, 42, of Lancaster, NY, and Sutukh El a/k/a Curtis Jordan a/k/a Hugo Hurt, 38, of Buffalo, NY, with wire and bank fraud…

—In another reversal of Trump-era policy, the Biden administration on Wednesday dropped its discrimination lawsuit against Yale University that alleged the Ivy League school was illegally discriminating against Asian American and white applicants. The government accused Yale in October of violating civil rights laws because it“ discriminates based on…

Feb. 3— JEFFERSON CITY— Negotiations are underway in the Missouri Senate to shield businesses, churches and schools from lawsuits related to COVID-19. Bill White, R- Joplin, as the full Senate began debate on the proposal Tuesday. Jill Schupp, D- Creve Coeur.

The United States Attorney's Office announced that a grand jury returned a superseding indictment against ASHTON J. RYAN, age 73, of Kenner; WILLIAM BURNELL, age 71, of Kenner; ROBERT BRAD CALLOWAY, age 60, of Metairie; FRANK J. ADOLPH, age 61, of Kenner; and FRED V. BEEBE, age 62, of Donaldsonville, for defrauding First NBC Bank, the New Orleans- based bank that failed in…

United States Senator Elizabeth Warren; a member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; today sent a letter to Acting Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Allison Herren Lee requesting that the agency provide Congress and the public information on how they will address the dramatic swings in market valuation of GameStop and…

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29– The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a non-profit public policy organization, issued the following statement on Jan. 28, 2021, by financial policy expert John Berlau:. President Biden's Office of the Comptroller of the Currency today announced that it was halting publication of a final banking rule, pending review. CEI financial policy…

Robinhood, a no-fee investment app, prevented its users on Thursday from purchasing new stock in certain publicly traded companies, including GameStop, AMC Entertainment, and BlackBerry, among others. GameStop’ s stock, for example, began the month below $20 per share, but was north of $300 per share at Wednesday’ s market close. More than half of Robinhood’ s…

The Congressional Review Act was a little-used device that Republicans used frequently early in the Trump presidency. It’s a model that a Democrat-controlled Senate could employ to kill two rules that invited public scorn.

Department of Labor officials alerted the White House Wednesday that it has completed work on a reworked rule to regulate investment advice to workers and retirees. No details are available on any changes to the rule, which could be rescinded by the incoming Biden administration.

Although President-elect Joe Biden will exert considerable influence over the Securities and Exchange Commission, the agency’s Regulation Best Interest is probably not going anywhere. At least not right away, say industry officials.

The Department of Labor has one week to publish its investment advice rule to avoid a quick hook by the incoming Joe Biden administration. Any rules published in the final 60 days of an administration, known as “midnight regulations,” can be rescinded by the incoming administration.