DESPITE DISAPPOINTMENT in the modest reductions in estate taxes included in House and Senate balanced budget bills, retailers are angling for the more generous Senate version to prevail in ongoing reconciliation negotiations. The balanced budget bill, which would provide $85 billion in net tax relief over the next five years, could be before the House and Senate soon, observers say, if progress is made in resolving differences in the two versions. The Senate plan, in addition to raising the level of assets exempt from the levy from $600,000 to $1 million, includes a provision that would give an additional $1 million exemption to family-owned businesses. The House plan would incrementally raise the exemption over the next 10 years, while the Senate would raise it over the next 11 years. Congress could complete work on the entire package before it adjourns for a monthlong break in early August.
ing bill that would provide almost $23 billion for the maintenance and improvement of highways, a boost of roughly $3 billion over the current year's funding level and $1 billion above the level approved in the budget resolution.
