Republican US lawmakers voice support for IRA energy tax credits
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republican U.S. lawmakers sent a letter to the head of the House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday voicing their support for tax credits boosted in former President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, legislation for which no Republicans voted.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
The letter from a dozen Republican U.S. Representatives shows the importance of the incentives, known as investment tax credits, or ITC, and production tax credits, or PTC, for Republican states with big clean electricity projects, such as wind, solar and nuclear power, and battery storage.
The letter, signed by Representatives Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa, Jen Kiggans, of Virginia, and Jeff Hurd of Colorado among others, emphasized that the credits help projects as the United States faces power demand levels not seen in 40 years.
Republicans, led by President Donald Trump, are looking to cut spending such as tax credits in previous legislation in the budget reconciliation process.
KEY QUOTES
“These credits are bolstering American supply chains, industrial capacity, grid reliability and resilience, and countless high-quality jobs across the nation,” the lawmakers said in the letter to Representative Jason Smith, the chairman of the committee.
“As China aggressively expands its energy capabilities to fuel its geopolitical ambitions, the ITC and PTC are vital to keeping the U.S. at the forefront of the intensifying global
energy race,” they said.
The lawmakers said as the committee undertakes reforming the tax code to help address the national debt that it is “not unreasonable” to incorporate a phase-out of the credits, without further details.
RESPONSE
“They’re trying to be reasonable actors, but by opening the door for phase outs, they appear to be giving up ground in these negotiations while dozens of their colleagues remain firmly in the camp of full repeal,” said Chris Moyer, a former staffer to Democrats in Congress and the head of Echo Communications Advisors.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; editing by Edward Tobin)
