Happy Wednesday and welcome back to On The Money, where we can relate to being caught in the back of a Zoom meeting. I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.
See something I missed? Let me know at [email protected] or tweet me @SylvanLane. And if you like your newsletter, you can subscribe to it here: http://bit.ly/1NxxW2N.
Write us with tips, suggestions and news: [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected]. Follow us on Twitter: @SylvanLane, @NJagoda and @NivElis.
ADVERTISEMENT
THE BIG DEAL—Major businesses hit new bumps with vaccine rules: Major companies are shedding their mask requirements for fully vaccinated employees, but with no clear policies on how to determine if a worker has received the COVID-19 vaccine.
- Business groups have voiced support for vaccination requirements as a term of employment, despite the legal pitfalls that come with enforcement.
- Companies now face the challenge of setting rules for workplace settings that may include vaccinated and unvaccinated employers working side by side.
Businesses that decide to enforce mask mandates for unvaccinated workers have some rights, experts say, but some might decide it’s not worth a confrontation.
“The issue there is you’re really on the honor system. You can ask to see the COVID vaccination card, that’s completely within the employers’ rights. Outside of that, you’re taking the employees’ words,” said Rob Wilson, president of Employco USA and a human resources expert. The Hill’s Alex Gangitano breaks it down here.
LEADING THE DAY
Biden faces big decision on Fed leadership: President BidenJoe BidenIsrael-Hamas ceasefire could come as soon as Friday: report US opposes UN resolution calling on Israel-Gaza ceasefire Parents of 54 migrant children found after separation under Trump administration MORE in the coming months will need to decide whether to reappoint Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell during a pivotal time in the coronavirus recovery.
ADVERTISEMENT
- With Powell’s four-year term set to expire in February, Biden has given little indication about whether he’ll keep the Trump appointee, who enjoys broad bipartisan support, or go in a different direction with a pick of his own.
- But two other looming vacancies on the Fed board, along with an open spot inherited from former President TrumpDonald TrumpCuomo investigation includes priority virus testing for family, associates: report Anonymous Capitol Police letter to spur support for Jan. 6 probe causes stir Florida GOP passes bill that would clear way for Trump casino license MORE, will soon force Biden to decide what to do with a major opportunity to reshape leadership at the Fed.
The political dynamic: With the economy still fragile from the coronavirus recession and Washington roiled by polarization, renominating Powell would give Biden a chance to live up to his campaign promise of unity. But the president is facing pressure from the left to make his mark on the Fed with a new nominee, prompting some Fed veterans to come to Powell’s defense.
“What the Fed is trying to do right now is really hard. When you’re trying to do something really hard, you need a lot of smart people from a lot of different backgrounds,” said Claudia Sahm, a Fed research director and economist from 2007 to 2019. “I think continuity and keeping politics out of this is particularly important when we’re in a moment of great economic uncertainty.”
I have more here.
Click Here: Gremio soccer tracksuit
Conservative Republicans propose $14T in cuts to balance budget: The Republican Study Committee (RSC), a conservative GOP House caucus, called Wednesday for cutting $14 trillion in spending over a decade to balance the budget and produce a surplus.
“We’ve faced a year of unprecedented spending,” the group’s leaders wrote in a letter on their proposed budget. The letter was spearheaded by RSC Chairman Jim Banks (R-Ind.).
ADVERTISEMENT
“As you can imagine, getting our spending under control and eliminating the deficit will prove to be a herculean task,” it stated.
Crunching the numbers: The group’s alternative budget proposal would virtually eliminate the deficit by 2024 and go into surplus by 2026 by making aggressive cuts to discretionary spending and mandatory programs, relative to their current projected paths.
- It would cut $2.5 trillion from current Medicare projections, $3.3 trillion from other health programs including Medicaid, and lop another $3.5 trillion from other mandatory programs that largely comprise the social safety net.
- Discretionary spending, which funds the government, would drop by $3.5 trillion, reducing its size as a share of the economy by a third.
The timing: The RSC budget comes just more than a week before President Biden’s full budget proposal is set for release on May 27, neither of which will come close to being law. Spending levels are typically decided through bipartisan negotiations involving the White House and Congress, neither of which get all of what they want. The Hill’s Niv Elis has the details here.
GOOD TO KNOW
- IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig on Wednesday estimated that the agency would be able to clear its backlog of 2019 tax returns within 60 days.
- Federal Reserve officials highlighted several pandemic-related factors that were suppressing the labor market’s recovery from COVID-19 during their last policy meeting in April, according to minutes released Wednesday by the bank.
- Seven major groups representing steel producers and workers are urging President Biden to keep tariffs on foreign steel that former President Trump enacted intact.
- Stocks and major cryptocurrencies recovered much of their losses Wednesday after falling sharply earlier in the day.
- President Biden is proposing an unprecedented increase in funding for programs that aim to boost schools with low-income students, betting that it could help scale back some of the disparities in educational outcomes.
ODDS AND ENDS
- The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee pressed a top regulator Thursday to review national charters given to cryptocurrency firms and prevent any from going forward in the future.
- Opinion: “Subsidized jobs: Key to an equitable economic recovery”