A tax reconciliation bill (H.R. 4297) conference is unlikely to get under way before the week of March 13 as Senate conferees take a last stab at bipartisanship and work toward a game plan to avoid or overcome a budget point of order against a House provision extending investment tax breaks, the top Senate tax writer said March 7.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) told reporters that "getting something done before the next break is technically impossible now." A meeting with ranking Democrat Max Baucus (Mont.) to try to forge a bipartisan approach on the bill was slated for later in the day.