Baucus' Expected Ambassadorship Puts Tax Reform in Limbo

With President Obama's Dec. 20 announcement that he will nominate Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus to be U.S. ambassador to China, industry officials say they don't expect to see action any time soon on one of the Montana Democrat's main priorities: an overhaul of the federal tax code.

If Baucus, as predicted, is confirmed to the China post, his successor as chairman of the powerful Finance panel is widely expected to be Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a strong advocate for renewable energy.

Baucus recently has unveiled several draft tax-reform proposals. But some industry officials say that quick action on a package of tax changes is unlikely.

Tax-reform prospects aren't bright in the House, either. Jeff Shoaf, Associated General Contractors of America senior executive director of government affairs, says House Ways and Means Committee members have been unable to get behind even a draft plan.

Pam Hunter McFarland was a Senior Editor of ENR and her expertise was: Sourcebooks, Environment, Labor

Tom Ichniowski has been writing about the federal government as ENR’s Washington Bureau Chief since the George H.W. Bush administration, and he has covered at least five major highway bills. A recognized expert on government policy on infrastructure and regulation, Tom is also a Baltimore native and Orioles fan who grew up rooting for Brooks and Frank Robinson. He is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia’s graduate school of journalism, where he once used “unrelentless” in a headline.

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