On Thursday, December 6, by a vote of 235-181, the House passed the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (HR 6), largely along party lines. The bill was, largely, the product of negotiations between Democratic leaders in the House and Senate.
Shortly thereafter, the White House issued a Statement of Administrative Policy (SAP) on the bill, which said the President's senior advisors would recommend that he veto it in its current form because it includes a 15% renewable portfolio standard (RPS) for investor-owned utilities (IOUs) and a $21 billion tax title that repeals $13 billion in incentives for the oil and gas industries.
On Friday, Dec. 7th, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) brought H.R. 6 to the Senate floor and moved to end debate (i.e. seek "cloture"). The cloture motion, which requires 60 votes for adoption, failed by a vote of 53-42. The objection to moving forward on consideration of H.R. 6 was primarily from Senators who opposed the RPS and tax title in the bill. All New England Democrats voted in support of the cloture motion, along with Maine's two Republican Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. Sens. Judd Gregg (R-NH) and John Sununu (R-NH) voted against the cloture motion.
As a result, the Senate is currently working to modify the House-passed "energy independence" bill, and secure enough votes to pass the Senate later this week. Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Ranking member Pete Domenici (R-NM) have vowed to work together to develop a bill that can pass the Senate and be signed by the President. Exactly what changes, other than dropping the RPS, will have to be made to secure the support of 60 senators is unclear at this time.
With regard to the $21 billion energy tax title, staff to the Senate Finance Committee (SFC) chairman, Max Baucus (D-MT), and Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-IA), said yesterday that they plan to make at least two modifications to the energy tax title. Those changes are: (1) stripping the Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirement out of the Clean Renewable Energy Bond (CREB) provisions; and (2) allowing transmission facilities to qualify for the Section 45 production tax credit (PTC). According to staff, Sen. Grassley will support keeping the tax title in the final energy bill (including the $13 billion in oil and gas offsets). The White House, however, has expressed opposition to the offsets, expressing concern about raising taxes and targeting the oil and gas industry.
If a revised bill garners the votes needed to pass the Senate, it will have to go back to the House for consideration. The House will have two choices -- either accept the modified Senate bill (Members cannot further amend it), or allow the bill to die in the House. Even if they choose the former, it is still unclear if the White House will support the measure.
To review a copy of H.R. 6, as passed the House please use the following link:
http://www.appanet.org/files/PDFs/House%20Amdts%20to%20Senate%20Amdts%20(HR%206).pdf