The list of amendments ran the gamut.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., expects to get a vote on her amendment to backfill the cash-strapped World Trade Center Health Fund for first-responders who got sick after the 9/11 cleanup efforts. It would extend the program to 2027 and provide $1 billion to help ensure new claims can still be accepted, although that’s short of the $3.6 billion advocates had been seeking to fully erase the budget shortfall.
Relatedly, Sens. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., have teamed up to provide $6 billion in compensation payments out of a fund for victims of state-sponsored terror, ranging from 9/11 families with a claim based on Iran’s alleged involvement to victims of the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut. Their amendment is fully offset, which could help put it over the top.
Another bipartisan effort centered on scaling back a new requirement for the 2022 tax year that online payment platforms and gig-working sites like eBay Inc., Uber Technologies Inc. and Venmo would have to report to the IRS when transactions total more than $600.
Democrats lowered the previous $20,000 threshold that kicked in at 200 separate transactions, in their 2021 pandemic relief law, which critics said created a burdensome new requirement on individuals casually selling goods online.
