Latest news with #CatherineCortezMasto
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Senate Dems unveil their answer on Medicaid fraud
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., will release Senate Democrats' answer to Republican efforts to combat Medicaid and Medicare fraud as part of the GOP's sweeping tax-and-spending bill. A discussion draft crafted by the Nevada Democrat and shared with Semafor would boost funding for the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program, which recovered $11 for every $1 it spent in 2022, and expand it to oversee all Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services programs, including the Affordable Care Act's health insurance marketplace. The centerpiece of a larger suite of proposals Senate Democrats will announce today, it's 'exactly what our agencies need to root out real fraud and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid while protecting Americans' access to care,' Cortez Masto said. Its release comes as congressional Republicans continue their push to pass their package by July 4.
E&E News
11-06-2025
- Business
- E&E News
Burgum previews land sales plan, gets grilled on cuts
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said he expected upcoming language for the Republican megabill to include public land sales. Burgum appeared Wednesday before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which is poised to release updated text in the afternoon. In response to a question from Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) about the potential for the legislation to approve 2 million acres in sales, Burgum said, 'I understand that there's some consideration of that, but I don't believe that's been formally introduced yet.' Advertisement The sales are likely to reignite opposition from Democrats and some Republicans. The White House's plan to cut Interior by roughly 30 percent also got pushback during a hearing.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Indiana Senator helps introduce bill to regulate executive pay in home loan agencies
WASHINGTON, D.C. (WTWO/WAWV)— Senator Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) Introduced a new act set to regulate the pay of executives of Federal Home Loan Banks. The bill entitled the Curbing Unreasonable Renumeration at Banks Act will grant the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Authority the ability to set a reasonable compensation level for senior executives. The bill would be put in place to stop profit-driven behaviors in order to refocus on the banks' mission to support affordable housing and community lending. 'While the Federal Home Loan Bank system has continued to fail to meaningfully invest in affordable housing and community development, it pays its executives millions each year,' said Senator Masto. 'This bipartisan legislation gives the Federal Housing Finance Agency more oversight over FHLBanks executives' compensation to help make sure the system delivers for working families.' Federal Home Loan Banks are government-sponsored enterprises that operate with public backing, which includes access to low-cost borrowing through government-implied guarantees that senators believe give them a responsibility to prioritize public interest over private gain. According to a 2023 report from the Federal Housing Finance Authority executives were given bonuses that were linked to financial performance that did not advance affordable housing goals. You can find the full text of the bill here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Axios
05-06-2025
- Business
- Axios
Senators warn big bill would make credit harder to get for low-income families
Buried in the " big, beautiful bill" is a provision that would require low-income Americans to pre-certify to get the Earned Income Tax Credit, a half-century old benefit that keeps millions of families out of poverty. Why it matters: Those hurdles would make the credit harder to get, or potentially even dissuade people from filing, say tax experts and Democrats who oppose the bill. State of play: The provision hasn't gotten a lot of attention, compared to changes to Medicaid and SNAP. Now some Democrats, led by Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, are demanding Republicans cut it from the final bill. In a letter Thursday, addressed to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson, the Dems note that 20% of eligible recipients already miss out on the credit because they're unaware it exists or believe it's too complicated. The new changes, "only exacerbate the EITC's existing shortcomings by creating more red tape and complexity for workers hoping to claim the credit," they write. "This will lead to fewer eligible workers claiming the EITC, resulting in an effective tax increase on America's working families." Senators Michael Bennet (Colo.), Cory Booker (NJ), Tim Kaine (Va.) and Ron Wyden (Ore.) and a few others signed on. The big picture: The provision is one of a handful in the bill that would impose more administrative hurdles for low-income Americans. There are new and expanded work requirements for Medicaid and SNAP, and a requirement that some adults re-certify for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act twice a year. Tax breaks for higher-income individuals and businesses do not appear to include any such requirements, which impose what some call a "time tax" on working people that ultimately winds up discouraging them from using benefits. How it works: The bill directs the Treasury Department to establish a process for taxpayers to obtain a "qualifying certificate" for each child they're claiming under the deduction. It's not clear how the IRS — already struggling after staffing cuts under DOGE — would do this. The requirement would take effect in 2028. If taxpayers don't have such a certificate, they'd be denied the refundable portion of the tax credit i.e., the money they get back in their refunds. By the numbers: On average, eligible taxpayers got a $2,743 from the credit in 2023, per IRS data, the most recent available. For tax year 2024, it was worth a maximum of $7,830 for families with three or more children. What they're saying: "The IRS will need to handle potentially tens of millions of qualifying child applications, which will likely trigger a deluge of phone calls and requests for assistance," per a report from the Tax Law Center at NYU. "Taxpayers who fail to navigate the system successfully will not receive their credit, even if eligible." The provision is effectively a "backdoor cut" to the EITC, writes the author of the NYU analysis in a Substack post. "[The] bill would increase scrutiny and burden for low-income taxpayers even as its tax cuts for the wealthy have no similar requirements," writes Greg Leiserson, who previously was a senior economist in the Biden Council of Economic Advisers. The other side:"Basic eligibility checks for government programs are not only a reasonable ask of beneficiaries, but a commonsense check against waste, fraud, and abuse," White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement. "It's both condescending and out-of-touch for so-called 'experts' to automatically assume that everyday Americans are either too stupid or too lazy to verify their income – as they do every day for a loan, credit card, or new lease application – when thousands of dollars' worth of government benefits are on the line." Flashback: A provision like this was tried decades ago and was later abandoned because it deterred eligible workers from claiming the credit and was costly to implement relative to any savings.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Nevada businesses hit by tourism drop from tariffs
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto said it is currently crunch time for the National Park Service, small businesses, and the travel industry in Nevada. Cortez Masto held a press conference Thursday at Wetlands Park to discuss the decline in tourism and funding, which she attributes to the Trump Administration's tariffs. 'We are seeing a negative impact on families across the state. From food to energy, healthcare costs, clothing, you name it,' Senator Cortez Masto added. According to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, the Administration is keeping Americans from being taken advantage of. 'The President's trade policy will continue, and we will comply with the courts' orders,' Leavitt shared. As for outdoor recreation, places like Lake Mead and Red Rock, among others, draw $8.1 billion to Nevada's economy annually. Mandi Elliott, with Nevada Outdoor Business Coalition, said it is hurting businesses like rental company Basecamp Outdoor Gear, which caters to travelers and their outdoor belongings. 'The drop in tourism is affecting their bottom line, and with the tariff increase, there's a lot of uncertainty for their small business. It's not as simple to just buy all your materials from the U.S. The cost is extreme, and most can't keep up,' Elliott added. On Thursday, a federal appeals court ruled that President Donald Trump's tariffs can continue until a final ruling is made. This counteracts a ruling a day earlier from the court of international trade that blocked the tariffs. The appeals court said the President can levy tariffs using the emergency powers he declared earlier this year. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
