Members can follow all Budget Reconciliation 2025 developments through this serial post.
House Passes One Big Beautiful Bill; Bill Moves to the Senate
On May 22, the House passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” H.R. 1, on a party line vote of 215-214. Two Republican representatives who say they would have voted yes missed the vote (Representatives Andrew Garbarino (NY) and David Schweikert (AZ)). The manager’s amendment, which was released late May 21, moved up the implementation of three Medicaid policies: the change to retroactive eligibility coverage from three months to one month, the work requirements and the increased eligibility checks moved to December 31, 2026 (or earlier at the discretion of the state).
For work requirements and increased eligibility checks, these moves reflect less time for states to implement these policies; for the retroactive eligibility, states were given two additional months.
“If enacted, the policies in the House-passed bill will have a devastating impact on millions of older adults and their families who rely on Medicaid and Medicare for health care and long-term care and services, and on our nonprofit provider members who serve them. LeadingAge spoke out on the bill after its House passage. LeadingAge will continue to work with the Senate to oppose the House’s purposeful removal of at least 10 million people from their health insurance, cutting $500 billion from Medicare, and the slashing of $800 billion in federal Medicaid funding to states–actions that will shred the health safety net for older adults and ultimately drive up healthcare costs. Recognize this for what it is: cold-hearted legislation that will have ugly consequences, essentially eliminating for vulnerable people the support they rely on, leaving them with few options. The Medicaid and Medicare programs, and the aging services infrastructure they support, help older Americans age with dignity, not desperation. They must be protected. We urge the Senate: do not follow in the House’s footsteps,” Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge, said in a May 22 statement.
LeadingAge will have a summary article detailing key provisions in the bill for states and members shortly.
Overview: Tax Provisions Affecting Nonprofits and More in House-Passed Budget Reconciliation Package
Following a nearly 24-hour hearing in the Rules Committee, the full House of Representatives passed its sweeping budget reconciliation bill on May 22, by a vote of 215-214. LeadingAge has prepared a summary of tax provisions in the final bill, titled the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, H.R. 1, with a focus on policies affecting charitable nonprofits. While a number of provisions remain that raise concern, lawmakers removed a provision that created a risk to the tax-exempt status of some organizations through a grant of new authority to the Treasury Department, and the tax title of the bill includes provisions that LeadingAge supports, as well. The article is posted here.
Low Income Housing Tax Credit Improvements in House-Passed Reconciliation Bill
The reconciliation bill that passed the House on May 22, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, H.R. 1, includes provisions that LeadingAge supports to expand and improve the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program. According to the National Council of State Housing Agencies, whose state housing finance agency members administer state LIHTC allocations, the bill “represents the largest increase in Housing Credit resources since Congress raised the caps on Housing Credits and Private Activity Bonds and indexed the caps for inflation 25 years ago.”
The bill would increase the LIHTC volume cap for 9% properties by 12.5% for four years: calendar years 2026, 2027, 2028, and 2029; lower the bond financing threshold to 25% for 4% LIHTC properties placed in service after December 31, 2025, so long as the bonds financing the project have an issue date between December 31, 2025, and January 1, 2030; and, allow state agencies to provide a basis boost of up to 30% for properties located in rural and Native American areas placed in service after December 31, 2025, and before January 1, 2030. These LIHTC changes will cost $14.1 billion over 10 years and, according to Novogradac, will result in about 527,000 homes. Despite their support for these provisions, LeadingAge continues to find much more harm than good in H.R. 1 and continues to work to ensure the Senate does not follow the House reconciliation bill’s lead.
Passage of Reconciliation Bill Boosts President Trump’s Border Security and Immigration Agenda
With House passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” H.R. 1, on May 22, the House advanced provisions key to President Trump’s border security and immigration agenda. Title VI of the bill, from the Committee on Homeland Security, contains several spending provisions related to immigration enforcement. It includes $46.5 billion for construction of border barriers, $5 billion for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities and checkpoints, $4.1 billion to hire and train additional border patrol agents and other personnel, more than $2 billion for annual retention bonuses or signing bonuses to eligible agents, and $600 million for recruiting border security personnel. Also related to the administration’s immigration enforcement and deportation efforts, Title VII from the Judiciary Committee contains billions in new spending for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), including $45 billion for detention centers, $14.4 billion to ICE for transportation and removal operations and $8 billion to hire more ICE agents and personnel, $858 million for retention and signing bonuses for ICE agents and personnel, and $600 million for ICE recruitment. It also establishes a range of new and increased immigration-related fees—including those related to visa applications, work authorizations, immigration court proceedings, and form filings—to help offset the cost of the increased spending on enforcement measures.
