House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI), the leading voice for tax reform in that chamber, is aiming to refocus lawmakers on that effort now that the 16-day government shutdown is over.

He said that the bill passed last week to reopen the government and extend the debt ceiling was a “missed opportunity” to address the nation’s underlying fiscal problems.

Camp, who is readying a comprehensive tax reform bill this session, had suggested for weeks that tax reform instructions could be linked to the debt limit deal, but that provision was not included in the deal brokered by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Camp said he voted for the bill because it prevented the country from defaulting on its debt, but added that Congress needs to work together to tackle the tough issues impacting the economy.

“One of the most important things Congress can do to strengthen the economy, encourage job creation, increase wages, and reduce spending is to fix our broken tax code,” Camp said. “As Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, I will continue to pursue commonsense, bipartisan reforms to simplify the tax code and improve our entitlement programs—both of which will help pay down the debt.”

ASAE has been closely studying various tax reform proposals that would potentially affect associations and other tax-exempt organizations, and last month sent a letter outlining those issues to Camp and his Senate counterpart, Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT). The association community is particularly concerned about possible changes that would expand the definition of “unrelated business income” in the tax code.