Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, was widely reported Dec. 18 as President Obama’s choice to be the next U.S. ambassador to China. Baucus announced earlier this year that he would not run for reelection in 2014. “Sen. Baucus has been a friend to this organization for a long time and we wish him well,” said Brian Graff, Executive Director/CEO of ASPPA and NAPA.
The Baucus appointment means that the tax reform effort will lose one of its most ardent supporters in Congress in a matter of weeks. During this session of Congress, Baucus worked closely with House Ways & Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) to craft legislation to rewrite the tax code.
Assuming that Baucus is confirmed to the post, he will likely relinquish the gavel of the tax-writing panel to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR). Wyden also strongly supports tax reform (see this blog post from 2012) and has sponsored sweeping tax reform legislation in the past that contained provisions recognizing the importance of the tax incentives for retirement savings. At a Senate Finance Subcommittee hearing on retirement issues Dec. 18, Wyden’s questions to the panel focused on making policy changes to enable the IRS to crack down on corporate malfeasance with respect to their DB pension funds. Look for a report on that hearing in tomorrow's Daily.
Andrew Remo is ASPPA’s Congressional Affairs Manager.
