WASHINGTON — Today, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Peter Roskam (R-IL) introduced H.R. 599, the Stop Targeting of Political Beliefs by the IRS Act of 2015. The bill would prohibit the IRS from changing the way it handles applications for 501(c)4 status. And it would require the IRS to apply the standard it used before the agency started targeting applicants because of their political beliefs. These requirements would expire at the end of 20... Read more

Democrats continue to claim we can fix the looming shortfall in disability insurance by raiding retirees’ Social Security trust fund. But CBO Director Doug Elmendorf poured cold water on those assurances during his testimony before the House Budget Committee yesterday. Rep. Diane Black asked the head of the nonpartisan agency whether the Democrats’ preferred answer would actually work: Rep. Black: As a matter of fact, I’ve heard some folks just talk about if this trust fund does become defunct, ... Read more

This afternoon, the House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing on United States trade policy, with U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman. It's an opportunity to explore a critical component of a pro-growth economic agenda: expanding export markets for American-made goods and services. The vast majority of the world’s consumers live beyond our borders, and we need to break down economic barriers so American farmers, ranchers, and businesses—large and small—can sell more of their produ... Read more

WASHINGTON — Today, Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) delivered the following opening statement during the Ways and Means hearing on the U.S. trade policy agenda with U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman. "I want to start by thanking Ambassador Froman. You and your team are doing very important work, and this committee is going to do all we can to make it a success. "Expanding American trade is going to be one of our top priorities this year. And the reason why is pretty simple. Nine... Read more

House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) today announced that the Committee on Ways and Means will hold a hearing on President Obama's budget proposals for fiscal year 2016. The hearing will take place Tuesday, February 3, 2015, at 10:00 AM in Room 1300 of the Longworth House Office Building. Oral testimony at this hearing will be from the invited witness only. The sole witness will be the Honorable Jacob J. Lew, Secretary, U.S. Department of the Treasury. However, any indivi... Read more

WASHINGTON — Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) released the following statement in response to reports that the president is dropping his proposal to tax 529 college savings accounts. Ways and Means member Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) has introduced bipartisan legislation that, rather than tax, would strengthen and expand this tool millions of families use to help save for college. “It took a public backlash for the president to realize that taxing college savings plans was a bad i... Read more

In 2013, Democrats argued that ending a “temporary” unemployment-benefits program would hurt families in need. In fact, they called unemployment benefits “one of the best ways to grow the economy.” At the same time, Republicans argued that the extended benefits program was holding back job creation, which is what the unemployed really needed. This program, called Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC), once contributed the bulk of up to 99 weeks of unemployment checks. Despite Democrats’ opp... Read more

WASHINGTON — Today, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) issued the following statement in support of H.R. 529, bipartisan legislation introduced by Reps. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) and Ron Kind (D-WI) that would expand, modernize, and strengthen tax-free 529 college-savings plans. "The solution to skyrocketing tuition costs isn’t to make saving for college more expensive, as the President has proposed. 529 plans are a great option for families who want to save for their children’s educat... Read more

WASHINGTON — Today, Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Peter Roskam (R-IL) sent a letter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen asking him to explain why the agency recently hired CGI Federal, the same contractor that bungled the rollout of Healthcare.gov. Upon sending the letter, Chairman Roskam issued the following statement. “The American people should know why the IRS spent millions of taxpayer dollars to hire the same company responsible for the botched Healthcare.gov rollout. From a... Read more

Disability insurance: Not working The Economist, January 23, 2015 For years, Doug, who lives in Binghamton, New York, suffered from bipolar disorder. In 2003 he enrolled in the federal disability insurance (DI) programme. With his illness now properly treated, he has been looking for work since 2013, without much luck. Because he worked full-time in a shop a decade ago, he would lose his disability benefits if he returned to full-time work now. He worries that he couldn’t handle it, and would en... Read more