House hopes to adjourn by late afternoon

The tax extenders package is expected to be considered in two pieces, House Ways and Means Chairman Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) told The Hill on Thursday night.

The $92.5 billion bill includes $39.5 billion for an extension of unemployment benefits through November. That portion of the bill is not offset with other spending cuts or tax increases. 

The other portion, which is paid for with offsets, totals $53 billion and includes tax extender provisions, summer jobs and the Pigford case settlement for black farmers.

The $53 billion cost of the provisions is offset with tax provisions, including a change in the way that “carried interest,” a common payment for hedge fund managers, is taxed. The bill also limits the use of foreign tax credits and requires principals in S corporations to pay employment tax on profits from the company.

The bill doesn’t include spending for COBRA insurance or federal medical assistance percentages. Those are expected to be considered separately when the House returns from a weeklong recess.

The second bill is for $23 billion and would extend for 19 months the “doc fix”, a term referring to delaying a cut in Medicare reimbursements to doctors.

Levin said he expects the bills to pass the House and be supported in the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Thursday the Senate would take up the tax extender measures when the chamber returns June 7 from the Memorial Day recess.