Today in Washington D. C. - Sept 24, 2008

The Senate and House are in session. Yesterday, the Senate passed a compromise tax extenders package (H.R. 6049) by a vote of 93-2. The bill extends “the research tax credit, deductions for tuition and education expenses, and deductions for sales tax in states without income taxes,” among many other tax provisions. It includes a one year alternative minimum tax (AMT) fix that prevents 20 million taxpayers from being hit with that tax. The bill also includes $17 billion in renewable energy tax incentives and a tax credit for plug-in hybrid cars. Negotiations continue today between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) concerning an omnibus bill (S. 3297) Reid has been pushing of measures Coburn has held up over spending concerns.

From Senate & News Sources: Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke are back on the Hill today to speak with the House GOP Conference and testify at hearings of the Joint Economic Committee and the House Financial Services Committee. The President is scheduled to speek this afternoon on the subject. While Americans and lawmakers are rightly concerned with the state of our financial system this week, there has been some potential good news in on critical issues affecting energy and gas prices.

Facing stubborn Democrat resistance, Republicans have led in calling for legislation that would help “find more and use less” American energy. In June, GOP senators, introduced the Gas Price Reduction Act. Republicans fought hard all summer to get a vote on the bill while Democrats delayed, obfuscated, and attacked the proposal. Yet today, it appears that some of the key provisions of the bill "may" be enacted. The Washington Post reports that House Democrats have relented and will allow the two decade long moratorium on offshore drilling expire. The drilling ban had been renewed annually by attaching a rider to appropriations bills and would have had to be included on a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government. However, Roll Call writes, “the bill will not include contentious offshore drilling language, after Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) conceded that House Democrats would be unable to keep in place restrictions on offshore drilling that are set to expire Sept. 30 in the face of stiff opposition from Republicans and President Bush.”

Also, it appears that the federal moratorium imposed by Democrats last year on exploring for oil shale in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming will not be extended in the CR. Lifting these bans were two key components of the Gas Price Reduction Act in letting our country “find more” energy. To help Americans “use less,” Republicans had called for $7,500 tax credit for plug-in electric vehicles. This provision was included in a tax package passed the Senate yesterday. These are major victories considering that Democrats spent most of the summer disparaging the idea of allowing more offshore drilling and suggesting that their strategy for tackling gas prices would be “drive small cars and wait for the wind.”

However it is too early to celebrate. Nothing yet has been written into law and Republicans appear to be taking Democrats at their word that the bans will not be in the CR. Also, the tax credits for plug-ins cars need to get through the House, and the Democrat leadership there is in danger of jeopardizing that bill if they go ahead with attempting to amend the Senate version with tax hikes. Still, it appears that three key components of the GOP “find more and use less” energy strategy are set to pass Congress ; maybe we will eventually see relief at the pump.

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