Q: How does the Senate get its work done?
A: Because of the large number of issues and tremendous amount of information with which the Senate is tasked, the work is divided into 20 committees and many more subcommittees. Most Senators become members of several committees and spend a great deal of time working on issues that pertain to those particular panels. Each committee handles specific legislation which it is assigned by the Senate Parliamentarian and is responsible for conducting oversight of various executive branch agencies, as part of our system of checks and balances. I serve on the Judiciary, Agriculture and Budget Committees, and I am the Ranking Member on the Finance Committee. To see a listing of the subcommittees where I am a member, and the advocacy caucuses on which I serve in the Senate, please visit http://grassley.senate.gov.
Q: What is the Senate Finance Committee?
A: The Senate Finance Committee handles issues that I like to call “Quality of Life” issues. The Committee has legislative authority to set federal tax policy, make changes to entitlement programs, including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and consider public policy involving international trade, unemployment benefits, welfare, and pensions. All together, The Senate Finance Committee has jurisdiction over about 60 percent of all funds outlayed by the federal budget through programs like Social Security. Additionally, the Committee also has jurisdiction over about 98 percent of all revenues coming into the Treasury from individual income taxes, customs duties and other sources. The Finance Committee also has oversight authority over matters related to the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Health and Human Services, for example. Often, people look at the title of the committee and think that the Senate Finance Committee is in charge of doling out the federal government’s money. The Senate Finance Committee did have that responsibility until 1867, when the Senate Appropriations Committee was formed to handle that task. I have served on the Senate Finance Committee for all but four years since 1981. The Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee is Senator Max Baucus of Montana. Since 2001, Senator Baucus and I have held the Chairmanship and Ranking Member positions on this committee, depending on which political party has control of the majority seats in the Senate at the time.
Q: What types of legislation was passed by the Senate Finance Committee in the last Congress?
A: In 2008, the Finance Committee passed legislation to continue the ethanol import tariff and extend renewable energy tax credits for wind energy and solar energy. This same legislation allows people to continue to take tax deductions for out-of-pocket expenses for teachers, sales tax and college tuition, and it protected approximately 134,000 taxpaying families in Iowa from having to pay an average of $2,000 in the alternative minimum tax on top of what they already owe in federal taxes. Additional Finance Committee legislation was recently signed into law that I first proposed to make it easier for foster kids to be adopted into permanent, loving homes, including those of their grandparents and other relatives. The Finance Committee also put together a major bill that became law to deliver tax relief to flood and tornado victims, including individuals, businesses and community rebuilding efforts, in Iowa and throughout the Midwest. Through my oversight work on the Finance Committee during the last two years, I have worked to hold the federal bureaucracy accountable for drug safety, Medicare fraud fighting efforts, fraudulently obtained farm program payments to dead farmers, and failing to prosecute a case against investment banker Bear Stearns. I’ve conducted extensive oversight of the tax laws that govern tax-exempt organizations, including nonprofit hospitals and college endowments. As a new congress gets going in January, I look forward to continuing my oversight work as well as pursuing public policy that keeps up with the needs of our country and provides opportunities for individuals and their families.