The House Ways and Means Committee this week passed a comprehensive tax package that preserves critical features of current law while extending and improving real estate provisions supported by The Real Estate Roundtable. However, the legislation encountered a substantial setback Friday morning, when the House Budget Committee rejected the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which combined the work of the Ways and Means and other House committees. (Axios, May 16)
“Taken as a whole, the tax proposals in the Chairman’s amendment will spur needed investment in our nation’s housing supply, strengthen urban and rural communities, and grow the broader economy to the benefit of all Americans,” said Roundtable President and CEO Jeffrey DeBoer. (Read DeBoer’s full statement here)
State of Play
The House Budget Committee rejected the bill in a 16-21 vote after GOP leadership failed to secure sufficient support from several Republican holdouts. (Axios, May 16)
President Trump on Friday urged Republicans to fall in line and support the massive reconciliation package amid sparring among members on the Hill over various provisions. “Republicans MUST UNITE behind, ‘THE ONE, BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL!'” Trump posted on Truth Social.
House GOP leaders plan to continue private talks with the reluctant Republicans and the White House over the weekend in hopes of resurrecting the package next week. (Politico, May 16)
What's In and Out for CRE
As currently drafted, the House legislation maintains the full deductibility of state and local business-related property taxes.
Carried interest, capital gains, like-kind exchanges, and general cost recovery periods for commercial real estate would remain unchanged.
Section 199A Deduction Boost: The legislation permanently increases the pass-through business income deduction from 20% to 23%, preserving eligibility for REIT dividends and effectively lowering the maximum tax rate on qualifying income to 28.49%.
100% Bonus Depreciation: The Ways and Means Committee is proposing to reinstate 100% bonus depreciation for five years (2025–2030), incentivizing investments and upgrades in nonresidential properties.
Opportunity Zones: The legislation extends the Opportunity Zone tax incentives through 2033 and would set aside 33% of new OZ designations for rural areas.
Low-Income Housing Tax Credit: The legislation increases the allocation of low-income housing credits by 12.5% for four years and permanently reduces the threshold of private activity bond financing necessary for projects to otherwise qualify for credits.
Energy Tax Incentives: The Ways and Means legislation repeals or phases out tax incentives such as the section 48 tax credit for solar panel and other clean energy investments, the 45L tax credit for new home construction, and the section 30C tax credit for EV recharging stations. (See more in Energy storybelow)
Factory Expensing: Other tax changes would temporarily allow newly constructed manufacturing, agricultural and refining properties to qualify for 100% expensing.
Roundtable Advocacy
RER President and CEO Jeffrey DeBoer provided insights on these developments during a fireside chat at the ULI Spring Meeting in Denver this week. DeBoer discussed the current political climate, policy implications for commercial real estate, and outlined both emerging risks and opportunities shaping the industry's future.
The Ways and Means Committee's provisions to expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) align with components of the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (AHCIA). (Affordable Housing Finance, May 16) (RW, May 2)
The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance held a hearing this week titled, “Expanding Choice and Increasing Supply: Housing Innovation in America,” focused on how modern construction technologies could increase moderate-income housing supply while identifying regulatory and financing barriers that limit broader adoption.
Lawmakers and witnesses explored alternative housing solutions such as manufactured housing, modular construction, and 3-D printed homes as ways to help close the housing supply gap. (Watch Hearing, May 14)
Looking Ahead
House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-MO) expressed interest in passing a separate bipartisan tax package by the end of the year, at an appearance at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C. earlier this week. This package would include expiring tax provisions and healthcare-related items.
“I would love to work with Sen. Wyden, Chairman Crapo, ranking member Neal in trying to craft a bipartisan bill before the end of the year, because there’s a lot of tax provisions that I really care about that are expiring, or have expired, that are truly, truly bipartisan,” said Smith. (PoliticoPro, May 15)
Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo (R-ID) and fellow panel member Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) are pushing to extend business tax cuts beyond the expiration set by Ways and Means, the latest change the Senate wants to make to the bill. (Reuters, May 16)
With the Budget Committee setback, the immediate future of the tax package is uncertain. But the provisions are certain to change further as the debate shifts to the Senate.
Energy
Policymakers and Industry Advocates Focus on ENERGY STAR Support, Clean Energy Tax Credits
As Republican lawmakers released a sweeping tax package this week and considered federal spending for the next fiscal year, The Real Estate Roundtable (RER) and industry allies continued to advocate for the ENERGY STAR program amid efforts to cut Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) clean energy credits.
Roundtable Advocacy
This week, RER along with eleven industry partners submitted a letter to U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)Secretary Wright reiterating the message of support for ENERGY STAR, and the benefits of the program driving down utility costs, bolstering grid reliability, and supporting U.S. economic competitiveness by helping building owners and managers benchmark performance and cut waste (Letter, May 14) (RW, May 9)
In April, RER and 17 industry organizations sent a letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin expressing strong support for the program. (Roundtable Weekly, April 4)
In a Washington Post op-ed this week, former EPA Administrator William K. Reilly (1989-1993) described the program as “government at its best,” noting it was never intended as a climate policy tool but rather a cost-saving initiative embraced by businesses, developers, and consumers alike. (Washington Post, May 14)
Hearings This Week
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin testified at Appropriation Committee House and Senate hearings this week regarding the president’s budget, but offered no clarity on ENERGY STAR's future.
Lawmakers on both committees voiced concern over the scope of proposed EPA spending cuts.
The chair of the House’s Interior-EPA spending subcommittee Mike Simpson (R-ID) told Zeldin during the hearing, the administration's proposed 55% EPA budget cut was unlikely to be accepted. (PoliticoPro, May 15)
In the Senate, Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Chair Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) called the FY2026 EPA budget proposal "unserious" and "problematic." (Sen. Murkowski Remarks, May 15)
IRA Clean Energy Tax Credits
The House Ways and Means Committee advanced its reconciliation bill that proposes sweeping changes to the IRA.
The bill terminates or phases out most of the clean energy tax credits that were expanded or created in the IRA.
RER produced a fact sheetsummarizing the treatment of clean energy tax incentives relevant to real estate in “The One, Big Beautiful Bill,” The summary is based on the Joint Committee on Taxation’s description. (JCX-18-25, May 9, 2025). (RER Fact Sheet, May 15)
Over past few weeks, several Senate and House Republicans have written to leadership expressing their support for maintaining energy incentives that benefit both traditional and renewable energy sectors, and urging a more selective approach to scaling back the IRA’s tax provisions. (RW, April 25)
Ways and Means vice chair Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL), a defender of IRA clean energy credits, said in an interview Wednesday he hopes Senate Republicans will make changes to the committee’s rollback of incentives. (Politico, May 14)
The Roundtable continues to engage lawmakers to ensure balanced, effective energy policies that support industry and economic growth.
Roundtable Leadership
Roundtable Members Featured in Commercial Observer's "Power 100" List of 2025 Most Influential Leaders in CRE
This week, Commercial Observer released their “Power 100” list of prominent industry leaders, which includes RER Chair Kathleen McCarthy (Global Co-Head of Blackstone Real Estate, Blackstone), President and CEO Jeffrey DeBoer, 8 other RER board directors, and many other RER members. (Commercial Observer, May 13)
CRE Industry Leadership
Commercial Observer begins its list by acknowledging what has been a roller coaster of a year so far for CRE, celebrating return to office mandates and steady interest rates while acknowledging April's volatility and the ever-present housing crisis.
In balancing these factors, Commercial Observer identified those included on the list as "the names who have run faster, stretched their arms out farther, and are beating their boats against the current—in their case, ceaselessly into the future." (Commercial Observer, May 13)
The article describes RER as the “top lobby for commercial real estate in Washington, D.C.,” noting RER’s role in helping policymakers understand and address critical issues facing the industry and the country.
RER’s Role
As RER President and CEO Jeffrey DeBoer explained to Commercial Observer, “I’m in the information business… I try to inform policymakers about an industry that they may not be fully familiar with.”
Federal policy has been top of mind for many CRE executives in the past few months, as uncertainty around tariffs, tax negotiations, federal leasing, and other key issues continues to grow. This has bolstered the need to ensure that the unified voice of the real estate industry is heard and impactful in Washington. (Commercial Observer, May 13)
This is especially crucial in a political environment that DeBoer describedas "March Madness, but not the NCAA basketball Tournament," to CO in late March. (Commercial Observer, May 13)
Members of RER’s board of directors and former RER chairs on Commercial Observer’s Power 100 list this year include:
RER Chair Kathleen McCarthy (Global Co-Head of Blackstone Real Estate, Blackstone), #2
Jeff Blau (CEO, Related Companies), #4
Rob Speyer (President and CEO, Tishman Speyer), #5
Owen Thomas (Chairman & CEO, BXP), #8
RER Chair Emeritus (2015-2018) William Rudin (Co-Executive Chairman, Rudin), #13
Barry Sternlicht (Chairman & CEO, Starwood Capital Group), #14
Scott Rechler (Chairman & CEO, RXR), #21
Mark J. Parrell (President & CEO, Equity Residential), #33
Chair of RER’s Sustainability Policy Advisory Committee (SPAC) Anthony Malkin (Chairman and CEO, Empire State Realty Trust, Inc.), #37
RER President and CEO Jeffrey DeBoer, #90
Diane Hoskins (Global Chair, The Urban Land Institute, Global Co-Chair, Gensler), #95
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