Earlier this week, the U.S. House Committee on Ways & Means announced that it would begin marking up the budget resolution that House and Senate leadership hope to pass without Republican support. “Mark-up” is that point in the legislative process where the responsible committee determines which specific issues are added or removed from the legislation as it is finalized for consideration. It is not yet known exactly what provisions impacting franchisees or the franchise business model will ultimately be in the $3.5 trillion proposal, but at this juncture, it appears that a mandate of up to 12 weeks of universal paid family and medical leave will likely be in the final bill as well as mandating that employers who do not offer employer-sponsored retirement plans automatically enroll employees in IRAs or 401(k)-type retirement plans. At the current time, speculation is that there will be no provisions related to unemployment insurance included the final bill for consideration. The Ways & Means mark-up is scheduled to conclude later today. Some democrats in both the House and Senate have questioned the cost of the bill.