Last month, Congress adjourned until after the election. Days later, Hurricane Helene ripped through Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas, sparking calls for legislative action that could hasten work on some tax policy in the post-election lame duck congressional session.
 
Recall that in early August, the House-passed Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act (H.R. 7024) (the 2024 Tax Relief Bill) flatlined in the Senate on a mostly partisan procedural vote. There is obvious concern that this failed vote poisoned the well for reconsideration in the lame duck, which is scheduled to begin November 12. Of course, post-election congressional productivity is both hard to predict and highly dependent on the election results. But political pressure is mounting, given the historic devastation from Hurricane Helene, which could force not only a supplemental spending bill but also consideration of disaster-related tax provisions specific to the impacted states. If consideration of these tax provisions does come to pass, it may generate renewed interest in the 2024 Tax Relief Bill, which has its own relief provisions dedicated to certain wildfire areas and parts of Ohio affected by the major train derailment and resulting chemical spill back in early 2023.
 
In addition, there are several must-pass bills Congress will also consider that could serve as vehicles for any tax legislation, including a fiscal year 2025 spending bill (either an omnibus appropriations bill or another continuing resolution), the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and farm program extensions. Parts of the 2024 Tax Relief Bill could potentially be attached to any of these legislative vehicles, with the current disaster relief title of the bill expanded to include provisions specific to Hurricane Helene relief.
 
Alternatively, Congress could pursue a separate disaster relief bill specific to Hurricane Helene, which would presumably include the disaster relief provisions originally included in the 2024 Tax Relief Bill. Although it is unlikely that the business tax provisions and the child tax credit (CTC) extension contained in the 2024 Tax Relief Bill would be considered in this context, a tax title in a Hurricane Helene-specific bill could attract consideration of some of the more bipartisan, non-controversial provisions of H.R. 7204 such as the low-income housing tax incentives and the Taiwan tax agreement provisions.
 
Again, it is difficult to predict what will happen, but tax policy observers will be watching to see if hurricane relief provides the necessary political pressure for tax policy to be considered. #TaxTake