On The Money — Democrats craft billionaire tax with deal in reach

Happy Monday and welcome to On The Money, your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line. Subscribe here: digital-stage.thehill.com/newsletter-signup.

Today’s Big Deal: Democrats are mulling a historic tax on the nation’s wealthiest as they attempt to find common ground on Biden’s plan.  We’ll also look at optimsm from Joe Manchin and the latest on the federal rental aid program.

But first, a bid to immortalize Prince with congressional honors.

For The Hill, I’m Sylvan Lane. Write me at slane@digital-stage.thehill.com or @SylvanLane. You can reach my colleagues on the Finance team Naomi Jagoda at njagoda@digital-stage.thehill.com or @NJagoda and Aris Folley at afolley@digital-stage.thehill.com or @ArisFolley.

Let’s get to it.

Senate negotiators homing in on proposal to tax billionaires

Democratic Senate negotiators are homing in on a final proposal to tax the nation’s wealthiest individuals and families as a principal source of revenue for a major human infrastructure spending bill. 

• The proposal would apply only to taxpayers who have more than $1 billion in assets or who earn $100 million in income for three consecutive years, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.
• It would apply to around 700 taxpayers and is projected to raise hundreds of billions of dollars.

“In a package that’s supposed to be about giving everybody a shot to get ahead, it would be a big mistake, from both a policy and a political perspective, not to ask billionaires to pay a fair share,” said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) in a statement Monday. 

“The Billionaires Income Tax is about fairness and showing the American people taxes aren’t mandatory for them and optional for the wealthiest people in the country,” Wyden said. “No working person in this country thinks it’s right that billionaires can pay no taxes for years on end, and sometimes never at all.”

The background: 

• Senate Democrats initially wanted to raise revenue to pay for their budget reconciliation package by raising the corporate tax rate and marginal income tax rates on wealthy Americans in the top income tax bracket. 

• But plans to raise the corporate tax rate and marginal income tax rates were shelved because of opposition from Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).

Under the emerging alternative Senate Democratic proposal, tradable assets, such as stocks, would be marked to market every year. Alexander Bolton explains here.

Read more:

• Manchin says he’s open to tax targeting billionaires
• Dems look to keep tax on billionaires in spending bill

LEADING THE DAY

Manchin says framework ‘should’ be possible this week

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said Monday that he believed Democrats “should” be able to get a deal on a framework agreement for President Biden’s social spending bill this week.

“Having it finished with all the t’s and the i’s and everything you know crossed and dotted that will be difficult from the Senate side because we have an awful lot of text to go through, but as far as conceptually we should, I really believe,” Manchin told reporters on Monday.

Manchin added that Democrats “should be” able to reach a deal on a framework this week, adding that “it really should be” finished.

The breakfast club: Manchin’s comments come after he met on Sunday with Biden and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) in Delaware as Democratic leadership and the White House race to lock down a deal in a matter of days.

Biden wants a framework agreement worked out before he goes to a climate summit in Scotland, telling lawmakers last week that he wants to be able to tout it as an accomplishment.

Jordain Carney fills us in here.

RENTAL AID LOGJAM

Roughly 75 percent of eviction aid has not reached renters: Treasury

Roughly $10 billion of a $46 billion pool of federal rental aid has made it to renters, landlords and utility companies after another $2.8 billion was disbursed by state and local governments in September, the Treasury Department announced Monday.

• Treasury said that funds from the Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program reached more than 510,000 households last month and more than 2 million since the initiative began this year. 

• The department had distributed the entirety of the $46 billion to eligible state and local entities in May to help struggling renters avoid eviction upon the expiration of federal and state moratoria.

I have more here.

Good to Know

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) in a new interview questioned whether cryptocurrency could replace the dollar as the reserve currency of the world, as it continues to gain traction around the world.

Here’s what else have our eye on:

• Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Sunday that she anticipates inflation will return to normal in the second half of 2022. 
• Several news outlets published stories Monday based on thousands of internal Facebook documents from whistleblower Frances Haugen, ratcheting up the pressure on a company already besieged by weeks of high-profile criticism.

That’s it for today. Thanks for reading and check out The Hill’s Finance page for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you tomorrow.