On The Hill

FERC On Thursday (Feb. 20), FERC voted against a key certificate for the Jordan Cove project. Republican Commissioner Bernard McNamee surprisingly voted against it after learning of a decision by Oregon’s Department of Land Conservation and Development to reject a needed permit for the site. It rejected a permit due to the potential impact on…

With the House and Senate both out for recess this week, there wasn’t much movement on Capitol Hill. Things look to pick up next week with HHS Secretary Alex Azar’s multiple testimonies in front of Congressional Committees on HHS’s FY 2021 Budget. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)’s drug pricing legislation (S. 2543) is gaining traction as…

IRS Issues Guidance on Section 45Q Credit On Wednesday (Feb. 19), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued two new pieces of guidance on a credit for carbon oxide sequestration, known as the 45Q credit. In these, the IRS addresses the beginning of construction requirements for facilities and carbon capture equipment and partnership allocations of section…

U.S. Increases Tariffs on EU Aeros, Aero parts  The Trump administration announced late last Friday (Feb. 14) it would increase tariffs on European aircraft from 10 percent to 15 percent but would not raise tariffs on consumer goods. The tariffs, stemming from the Large Civil Aircraft case involving Boeing and Airbus, are the administration’s latest…

Energy and Commerce Democrats Release Draft CLEAN Future Act On Wednesday (Jan. 8), Energy and Commerce Democrats revealed their framework for legislation to address climate change. Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) said the legislation treats climate change “like the existential emergency that it is.”[1] Notably, the draft excludes carbon pricing, but does include ambitious goals to…

Congress reconvened for the second session of the 116th Congress, with the main focuses on impeachment and Iran. The House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Health held a hearing on multiple bills that would strengthen patient protections for Medicare and Medicaid, including H.R. 5534, the “Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act,” which…

Reed Unveils Bipartisan Bill for Clean Energy Technology Credits Representative Tom Reed (R-NY) unveiled a bipartisan plan to incentivize clean energy technology innovation and combat climate change. The Energy Sector Innovation Credit is unique from other clean energy credits which specify energy sources credits can be applied to, wind and solar, for example. Instead, the…

Senate Finance Passes USMCA On Tuesday (Jan. 7), the Senate Finance Committee approved the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) by a vote of 25-3. The move clears the way for a full Senate vote, although several other Senate committees will vote on it next week. Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said USMCA’s road to the Senate…

Spending Deal   On Thursday (Dec. 19), Congress finalized legislation to fund the government for FY 2020 in a spending measure that will increase federal budgets by $49 billion.[1] The threat of a year-long continuing resolution (CR) sped up the process and led top negotiators to arrive at a compromise. Defense spending will increase by…

As the impeachment proceedings wrapped up in the House, Congress passed a $1.4 trillion spending package that includes funding for the government through FY 2020 and extended funding for health extenders until May 22, 2020. This week, taxes that were passed to fund major parts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) also were at the…