On June 17, the House Corporate Tax bill (H.R. 4520), which contains an extension of the wind energy production tax credit (PTC), passed the full House of Representatives by a vote of 251-178. The bill is also known as the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 or the Foreign Sales Corporation – Export Trade Incentives (FSC-ETI) bill. The Senate passed its version of corporate tax legislation (S. 1637) on May 11.
"We have cleared two hurdles on PTC passage in the last four days," said AWEA legislative director Jaime Steve. "On Monday the corporate tax bill containing the PTC moved successfully through the House Ways & Means Committee. On Thursday that bill was approved by the full House of Representatives. Now it is on to the House-Senate conference committee stage where we will continue urging Congress to act as quickly as possible to get the wind industry back to work."
While the bill now moves to the conference committee (the negotiating stage at which differences are hammered out between the two bills), this process is expected by many to be difficult and potentially protracted, Steve said, due to the large number of significant policy differences between the bills. Key participants in the process, he added, are now predicting that final action may not occur until September and may even be held up until a special "lame duck" session following the November elections.
The PTC contained in the House bill would continue the inflation adjustment factor and extend the credit for two years (through December 31, 2005). The two-year extension is a bargaining position going into the conference committee. The previously passed Senate corporate tax bill contains a three-year PTC extension (through Dec. 31, 2006). However, it calls for eliminating the inflation adjustment factor. The House bill would not extend the PTC to additional renewable energy technologies while the Senate bill would. The House bill would not create a new tax credit for the purchase of small wind systems rated 75 kW and below, while the Senate bill would. There are no fixed dates for the conference committee to begin or end its work.
Some of the numerous differences and contentious issues in the two bills are:
The Senate bill contains a $19 billion energy tax package while the House bill does not.
The Senate bill contains a provision dealing with overtime pay for workers while the House bill does not.
The House bill contains a $9.6 billion bailout for tobacco farmers while the Senate bill does not.
The House bill contains a provision allowing residents in states that do not have state income taxes to deduct sales taxes. Texas residents currently cannot deduct any state taxes because Texas is one of several states without an income tax.
One key Senator sure to be on the conference committee Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has predicted a difficult conference process that could take until September to complete the bill.
The House Committee on Appropriations approved the fiscal year 2005 Energy and Water Development appropriations bill this week. The annual legislation provides funding for programs at the Department of Energy (DOE) such as the federal wind energy research and development (R&D) program budget and Renewable Energy Production Incentive (REPI) for public utilities. Overall, the committee recommended a funding level of $343 million for renewable energy programs, a decrease of $31.6 million from the Administration's budget request.
The Committee approved $41.6 million for DOE's wind energy program, which was level with the the Administration's request and this year's funding level. It approved a slight increase for the Renewable Energy Production Incentive (REPI) program, up $1 million from last year's funding to $5 million.
It is unclear when the full House will consider the legislation. The Senate has yet to schedule committee action on its version of the Energy and Water Development appropriations bill.
Loading...