From the National Biodiesel Board:
On Wednesday, April 14, 2010, the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means, the committee with jurisdiction over tax issues, held a hearing on energy tax incentives. While the hearing focused primarily the energy tax incentives enacted early in 2009 as part of President Obama’s economic stimulus package, several members of the committee expressed concern with the lapse of the biodiesel tax incentive and signaled their desire to resolve this issue. Michael Mundaca, the Assistant Treasury Secretary for Tax Policy, also confirmed the Obama Administration’s position in support of extending the biodiesel tax incentive retroactively through the end of 2011. The NBB submitted written testimony explaining the time sensitive need to retroactively extend the biodiesel tax incentive as well as the merits of H.R. 4070 and S. 1589, legislation to provide a multiple year extension of a reformed biodiesel tax incentive.
During the hearing and in subsequent press accounts, U.S. Representative Sander Levin (D-MI), the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, signaled his desire to complete consideration of the tax extender package that contains an extension of the biodiesel tax incentive prior to the Memorial Day recess. The biggest barrier to passage remains identifying revenue raisers to offset costs associated with the extension of expired tax provisions. NBB’s Washington, DC staff will continue to advocate for immediate action to address this issue. NBB members and biodiesel stakeholders are urged to contact their federal elected officials with a similar message. Please visit the Members Only section of the NBB website to review the written testimony submitted to the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means and additional information on this important topic.