May 18, 2012
U.S.

PTC may not get pre-election vote but is in ‘top tier’ of credits likely to be extended — Tiberi

By Nick Juliano, E&E reporter • Posted: Friday, May 18, 2012 | via: www.governorswindenergycoalition.org

A major wind industry tax credit may not be up for a vote in the House before the election, but it is in the “top tier” of credits likely to receive an extension among dozens of temporary breaks slated to expire at the end of this year, a key Republican said yesterday.

While the House subpanel tasked with evaluating “tax extenders” is still relatively early in its evaluation of which of the 100-plus expiring credits deserve an extension, the wind industry’s intensive lobbying effort throughout the year for the production tax credit seems to be paying off.

“I would say it’s probably on the top tier in terms of what we have heard from both members and private sector,” Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio), who chairs the Ways and Means subpanel on select revenue measures, told E&E Daily in a brief interview off the House floor yesterday.

However, Tiberi said it was too soon to tell whether the PTC and other extenders would be ready for a vote before November’s election. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) earlier this week promised a pre-election vote designed to prevent the “largest tax increase in American history,” but Tiberi said that vote would be primarily focused on maintaining tax rates for all earners set with the George W. Bush-era tax cuts in 2001 and 2003.

And even if the extenders are ready for a pre-election vote, Tiberi predicted they would not be tied to maintaining current tax rates.

“Even if we get there, I don’t think it’ll be one big package, because the extenders are separate and distinct from the ’01/’03″ cuts, Tiberi said. “The ’01/’03, we in the House … wanted those to be permanent. The extenders historically have been temporary, passed originally clearly as temporary measures.”

Tiberi also said he met Wednesday with some wind industry representatives who were planning to send a letter and some economic data detailing what the credit has meant for the industry, although he did not say whom he had been meeting with.

The subcommittee is planning a hearing next month to hear from more stakeholders on the PTC and other extenders, Tiberi said, although details on timing and witnesses are still being worked out.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/05/18/ptc-may-not-get-pre-election-vote-but-is-in-top-tier-of-credits-likely-to-be-extended-tiberi/