The $58.5 billion emergency military funding legislation for Iraq and Afghanistan now working its way through Congress might give a small boost to power plant construction in the form of $180 million in loans for nuclear plant construction and wind and solar power plant development. Speaker Pelosi is insisting that a nuclear loan program proposed for addition to the emergency funding bill give parity to wind and solar power development, with $90 million for nuclear construction loans and $90 million for wind and solar power development. If the package survives the legislative process, this funding could support as much as $9 billion in additional loan guarantees for nuclear power plant construction and $3 billion in loan guarantees for wind and solar power generating facility construction, including the $2 billion “borrowed” from earlier legislative proposals to fund extension of the “cash for clunkers” program in the economic stimulus package.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
“Extenders” Delayed Another Week
Despite the pain and agony additional delay is inflicting on every American citizen out of work and looking for it, Congress has delayed action for an additional week on legislation extending unemployment benefits for folks whose checks ran out weeks or months ago. The “extenders” of unemployment and COBRA benefits, Bush era tax breaks for individuals and small businesses, and other essentials for the survival of the economically disadvantaged, was supposed to be put to a vote last week. Neither house of Congress is prepared to act, in spite of the fact that the last temporary extension of these provisions expires over the Memorial Day weekend.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Federal Highway Trust Fund Reauthorization Stalled
There has been no significant legislative action to move forward the stalled reauthorization of the Federal Highway Trust Fund since House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James Oberstar’s hearing over a month ago on innovative financing methods for surface transportation infrastructure construction. Everyone in Congress recognizes that motor fuel taxes will be woefully inadequate to fund a six year $500 billion reauthorization measure, yet, in an election year, no one wants to sponsor new revenue measures to bridge the funding gap. Consequently, we can look forward to continuation of the series of three and six month interim funding measures for federal surface transportation projects, and the resulting inability of state and local government officials to make any long term plans or budgets for transportation infrastructure construction projects.
While the construction industry segment of the struggling American economy continues to languish behind the pace of nascent recovery, you would think our legislators in the nation’s capitol would take some interest in legislation with a very good chance of picking up the pace of job creation in construction, but you would be mistaken.
While the construction industry segment of the struggling American economy continues to languish behind the pace of nascent recovery, you would think our legislators in the nation’s capitol would take some interest in legislation with a very good chance of picking up the pace of job creation in construction, but you would be mistaken.
American Company Leads In Wind Power Operations
With 23 years of experience as a third party operator of wind power generation facilities, NAES Corporation of Issaquah, Washington, right here in the United States, is the world’s largest third party operator of wind energy generation facilities. NAES manages and operates 43 billion watts of wind energy facilities at 122 operating plants.
With 375 additional gigawatts of wind energy under development worldwide, NAES is a leader in power production even before passage of any American federal legislation promoting renewable energy growth and development. Hats off to one example of American technological ingenuity continuing to progress in spite of Congressional indifference.
With 375 additional gigawatts of wind energy under development worldwide, NAES is a leader in power production even before passage of any American federal legislation promoting renewable energy growth and development. Hats off to one example of American technological ingenuity continuing to progress in spite of Congressional indifference.
Power Industry Lobbying Efforts Support Senate Climate Bill
Electrical generation industry leaders at the twelfth annual Electric Power Conference executive forum in Baltimore yesterday rallied behind the Kerry/Lieberman American Power Act, the Senate’s alternative to the Waxman/Markey cap and trade bill passed last year by the House. Urging his colleagues to get behind passage of the Kerry/Lieberman legislation, James Connaughton, Executive Vice President of Constellation Energy Group, told the assembled power industry executives: “In Washington, difficult legislation is often declared dead – right before it is passed.”
Lamenting that heavy handed USEPA regulation of carbon dioxide emissions is the likely alternative should Congress fail to pass any climate change bill this session, Connaughton told the power industry leaders that in his experience USEPA rules usually accomplish about a quarter of their goals at four times the estimated cost to industry.
During the executive round table on climate change legislation, Connaughton’s sentiments in support of the Kerry/Lieberman bill were echoed by Keith Trent of Duke Energy.
Lamenting that heavy handed USEPA regulation of carbon dioxide emissions is the likely alternative should Congress fail to pass any climate change bill this session, Connaughton told the power industry leaders that in his experience USEPA rules usually accomplish about a quarter of their goals at four times the estimated cost to industry.
During the executive round table on climate change legislation, Connaughton’s sentiments in support of the Kerry/Lieberman bill were echoed by Keith Trent of Duke Energy.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Congressional Health Care Secrecy Betrays Public Trust
In a continuing program of concealing debate and compromises on the pending health care reform legislation from the public view, Democratic leaders in both houses of Congress have agreed to bypass the formal conference committee process for reconciliation of the differences between the House and Senate bills, and instead intend to draft compromise provisions behind closed doors before the House reconvenes later this month, have the House pass the agreed compromise provisions as an amendment to the House bill, and then send the amended House bill to the Senate for a final vote in which 60 affirmative Senate votes would result in passage of an identical version to send to the Oval Office for signature before President Obama’s State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress.
By these measures, Congress would avoid public observation of the process through C-Span broadcasts of conference committee hearings and debates, and issuance of a published conference report before either house votes on the bill. This alternative to the customary procedures also insures that most Senators and Congressmen, like the rest of the citizenry, will be ignorant of the details of the 2,074 pages of the legislation they are voting on.
The House amendment will have to resolve conflicts respecting the inclusion of a “public option” in the legislation, threshold levels of premium cost for imposing a 40% tax on “Cadillac” health insurance plans, the Senate’s favored funding mechanism for the bill, and the minimum level of income before imposition of a wealth surtax, the funding mechanism favored by the House bill. Congressional leaders expect the final compromise measure to include aspects of both funding mechanisms, thereby reducing the number of taxpayers affected by either type of revenue increase.
Democrats are feeling more intense pressure to get this legislation to the president’s desk before midterm elections, as announced and expected Senate and Congressional retirements open more and more seats in both houses to Republican challengers. The Congressional Budget Office predicts that the final bill will leave between 18 million and 23 million citizens still without health insurance coverage. As of yesterday, it appeared House leaders were unwilling to press forward their version of a nationwide public option in the final legislation, since Sensate passage of such a provision appears nearly impossible.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s secretive approach to the manager’s amendment, which became the final Senate version of this bill, illustrates the sort of provisions which can creep into legislation at the last minute, leaving the public and most legislators unaware of the details of bills passed in this secretive way. While the Senate bill does not require all employers to provide workers with health insurance, it does impose a $750 per employee annual penalty on every business with over 50 employees if the business does not provide health coverage, and any one of its employees receives a federal subsidy to pay his or her individual or family health insurance premium. At the last second urging of Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, Reid secretly accepted an amendment to the Senate bill applicable only to the construction industry, reducing the size of penalty exempt employers from 50 employees to 5 employees.
Labor unions argue the Merkley amendment is needed to avoid giving non-union contractors an unfair competitive advantage in an industry where 90% of businesses have fewer than 20 employees, and union health care costs can represent 12.5% to 20% of payroll costs. Labor’s health insurance costs are expected to increase dramatically under this legislation, by as much as $1,000 per employee per year, due to the bill’s elimination of annual and lifetime benefit limitations, preexisting condition exclusions, and extension of family coverage to children of the employee until age 26.
On the other hand, smaller contractors argue that imposition of payroll cost increases amounting to as much as 25% will require layoffs at a minimum across the home building sector, or at worst, drive many of them out of business altogether. Whether the Merkley amendment stays in the final, secretly compiled bill, remains to be seen. The ongoing closed door drafting of this legislation, which will affect each and every American one way or another, acquiesced in by Speaker Pelosi and President Obama who campaigned on pledges of greater transparency and openness in government, leaves too much room for many similar last minute special interest provisions to creep into the bill, sight unseen.
By these measures, Congress would avoid public observation of the process through C-Span broadcasts of conference committee hearings and debates, and issuance of a published conference report before either house votes on the bill. This alternative to the customary procedures also insures that most Senators and Congressmen, like the rest of the citizenry, will be ignorant of the details of the 2,074 pages of the legislation they are voting on.
The House amendment will have to resolve conflicts respecting the inclusion of a “public option” in the legislation, threshold levels of premium cost for imposing a 40% tax on “Cadillac” health insurance plans, the Senate’s favored funding mechanism for the bill, and the minimum level of income before imposition of a wealth surtax, the funding mechanism favored by the House bill. Congressional leaders expect the final compromise measure to include aspects of both funding mechanisms, thereby reducing the number of taxpayers affected by either type of revenue increase.
Democrats are feeling more intense pressure to get this legislation to the president’s desk before midterm elections, as announced and expected Senate and Congressional retirements open more and more seats in both houses to Republican challengers. The Congressional Budget Office predicts that the final bill will leave between 18 million and 23 million citizens still without health insurance coverage. As of yesterday, it appeared House leaders were unwilling to press forward their version of a nationwide public option in the final legislation, since Sensate passage of such a provision appears nearly impossible.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s secretive approach to the manager’s amendment, which became the final Senate version of this bill, illustrates the sort of provisions which can creep into legislation at the last minute, leaving the public and most legislators unaware of the details of bills passed in this secretive way. While the Senate bill does not require all employers to provide workers with health insurance, it does impose a $750 per employee annual penalty on every business with over 50 employees if the business does not provide health coverage, and any one of its employees receives a federal subsidy to pay his or her individual or family health insurance premium. At the last second urging of Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, Reid secretly accepted an amendment to the Senate bill applicable only to the construction industry, reducing the size of penalty exempt employers from 50 employees to 5 employees.
Labor unions argue the Merkley amendment is needed to avoid giving non-union contractors an unfair competitive advantage in an industry where 90% of businesses have fewer than 20 employees, and union health care costs can represent 12.5% to 20% of payroll costs. Labor’s health insurance costs are expected to increase dramatically under this legislation, by as much as $1,000 per employee per year, due to the bill’s elimination of annual and lifetime benefit limitations, preexisting condition exclusions, and extension of family coverage to children of the employee until age 26.
On the other hand, smaller contractors argue that imposition of payroll cost increases amounting to as much as 25% will require layoffs at a minimum across the home building sector, or at worst, drive many of them out of business altogether. Whether the Merkley amendment stays in the final, secretly compiled bill, remains to be seen. The ongoing closed door drafting of this legislation, which will affect each and every American one way or another, acquiesced in by Speaker Pelosi and President Obama who campaigned on pledges of greater transparency and openness in government, leaves too much room for many similar last minute special interest provisions to creep into the bill, sight unseen.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Health Care Reform Staggers Toward The Finish
If, as President Obama predicts, health care reform legislation is approaching the finish line in the Senate, then it has been staggering fitfully across the last stretch of the track. Senators are supposed to vote on this 2,000 plus page bill before Christmas, yet none of them have yet seen the actual text of the legislation. Managers of the bill will not release the final version until CBO has completed its scoring of the measure, and of course CBO is shooting at a moving target as the compromise negotiations stutter along on the two most controversial and stubbornly difficult aspects of reform: abortion funding and the public option.
Senator Joe Lieberman says he won’t vote for a bill with a public option in it, and Senator Roland Burris says he won’t vote for a bill without a public option in it. Either way, Democrats come up one vote short of the 60 needed for passage. No matter what the resolution of the public option problem, abortion coverage is an independent and equally contentious hurdle. Women’s rights advocates insist every American woman should have an avenue to purchase health coverage including the possibility of abortion services, and right to life advocates are equally insistent that not a penny of federal taxpayer dollars should go to fund the purchase of abortion insurance, either through premium subsidies or Medicare and Medicaid coverage.
Of course, passage in the Senate, whether before or after Christmas, does not assure that health care reform becomes reality. The only thing now clear about the Senate version of the legislation is that it won’t be identical to the bill already passed by the House. That means that whatever the Senate does pass will go to a conference committee, where these two seemingly impossible issues will rise again, along with the differences in approach between House and Senate tax impositions to pay for the enormous cost of expanding health coverage for those who can’t or won’t buy it on their own. Super Bowl Sunday may come and go before American citizens know what conclusion Congress reaches regarding health care reform legislation.
Senator Joe Lieberman says he won’t vote for a bill with a public option in it, and Senator Roland Burris says he won’t vote for a bill without a public option in it. Either way, Democrats come up one vote short of the 60 needed for passage. No matter what the resolution of the public option problem, abortion coverage is an independent and equally contentious hurdle. Women’s rights advocates insist every American woman should have an avenue to purchase health coverage including the possibility of abortion services, and right to life advocates are equally insistent that not a penny of federal taxpayer dollars should go to fund the purchase of abortion insurance, either through premium subsidies or Medicare and Medicaid coverage.
Of course, passage in the Senate, whether before or after Christmas, does not assure that health care reform becomes reality. The only thing now clear about the Senate version of the legislation is that it won’t be identical to the bill already passed by the House. That means that whatever the Senate does pass will go to a conference committee, where these two seemingly impossible issues will rise again, along with the differences in approach between House and Senate tax impositions to pay for the enormous cost of expanding health coverage for those who can’t or won’t buy it on their own. Super Bowl Sunday may come and go before American citizens know what conclusion Congress reaches regarding health care reform legislation.
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