The House of Representatives approved President Trump’s sweeping reconciliation package, formally titled the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, in the early-morning hours of May 22 by a 215-214 margin. For contractors, the bill preserves the House tax panel’s centerpiece items highlighted in last week’s AGC brief—extending and expanding the 199A pass-through deduction, permanently raising the estate-tax exemption, and allowing full expensing of domestic R&D costs.
Since last week’s version of the bill, the House Rules Committee made a handful of tax and energy revisions that matter to contractors. Most notably, the bill now caps the SALT deduction at $40,000 for households earning up to $500,000, with both figures indexed and increased by one percent annually. On the energy side, the House narrowed its proposed phase-out of the new technology-neutral Production (45Y) and Investment (45E) tax credits: eligibility now closes for projects placed in service on Dec. 31, 2028, but projects that commence construction by Dec. 31, 2025, remain eligible. Separate language retools the nuclear-only credits (45U) by adopting the same “commence-construction” test, authorizing credit transferability, and extending availability through 2031.
What’s next? Attention now shifts to the Senate, where Republicans control 52 seats and must navigate budget reconciliation rules. It is probable that the Senate will make changes to the bill, which would require them to send it back to the House for another vote on the revised version. As always, we will keep you updated on the latest.
For additional information, please contact Alex Etchen, Deniz Mustafa, or Jim Young.