A Way Around the Congressional Impasse?
May 9, 2008Have you noticed the fatal flaws in the year-long string of unsuccessful attempts in Congress to keep tax credits alive for solar installations?
In brief, they’ve all been about funding: the bills either targeted oil & gas industry revenues to pay for the tax credits, or they had no source of funding at all. So they all ran into roadblocks manned, respectively, by Senate Republicans or House Democrats. To this day, no-one is willing to budge an inch from their position, even with legislation as important as this.
This week we heard something different from Capitol Hill. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi are urging the House Ways & Means Committee to support a small ($6-8 billion) renewable energy tax extenders package that would include Solar and that would be funded, not from the oil & gas industry but from the reporting of credit-card transactions to the IRS.
It’s a new and potentially winning strategy, but it could still fail if House and Senate Republicans–particularly those on the Finance and Ways & Means committees–try to reject the package out of hand. If they indicate that they are leaning this way, House Democrats could very well be discouraged from moving forward with this innovative approach.
We’re targeting just ten senators on the Finance Committee and three representatives on the Ways & Means Committee*, and if you’re a constituent of one of them we urgently need you to call their Washington office and make sure they understand what’s at stake here.
We’ve given you talking points for the call on the page after next, but to summarize, we’d like you to remind the legislator that the measures will be paid for in a way believed to be acceptable to Republicans and the White House, and that they should not, therefore, prejudge the package before debate.
Will you take a few minutes to make this important call? It could just keep the package alive–and with it the hopes of those who believe in making America a Solar Nation.
CLICK HERE TO TAKE ACTION. Just enter your ZIP code in the ‘CALL NOW’ box on the page after next, and you’ll see:
- Whether you’re a constituent of one of the target legislators,
- What number to call,
- What the talking points are.
Thanks for your help!
*Senators Crapo, Domenici, Ensign, Grassley, Hatch, Kyl, McConnell, Smith, Snowe and Sununu;
Representatives Camp, Cantor and Herger.
