Coalition to Congress: No Tax Extenders in FAA Reauthorization Bill

Congress has a great deal to get done before they take their extended vacation in the summer, seven weeks as opposed to the usual six. The House is in recess right now, but the Senate is in session and moving towards another last minute deal that could cost taxpayers billions. At issue is the inclusion of tax extenders as part of S. 2658, the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2016. Congress has already addressed the issue of tax extenders, and now they want to retroactively include additional provisions that amount to little more than cronyism and corporate welfare. The Senate should reject this approach and the House should follow suit as they take up their own legislation on FAA reauthorization. TPA recently signed a letter sent by Americans for Prosperity calling on the Senate to oppose the inclusion of tax extenders in the FAA reauthorization bill.

Read the letter below

April 5, 2016

Dear Chairman Hatch and Ranking Member Wyden:

On behalf of our organizations and the millions of Americans we represent, we write to express our strong opposition to extending expiring renewable energy provisions on upcoming legislation reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Congress considered the matter of expiring tax provisions less than 4 months ago. The $680 billion package signed into law in December made some of these items permanent and allowed more than two dozen others to expire at the end of this past year, laying the groundwork for comprehensive tax reform. The $1.4 billion in expiring tax provisions currently under consideration — pertaining to wind power, geothermal heat pumps, fuel cell facilities and combined heat and power (CHP) properties — are a distortion of the tax laws for special interests in the renewable energy industry and were wisely left out of this package.

It should also be noted that Congress extended significantly favorable tax treatment to renewable energy in omnibus appropriation legislation that accompanied the aforementioned tax extender package. This bill included 5-year extensions of the main federal provisions for renewables, the wind production tax credit (PTC) and the solar investment tax credit (ITC), at a cost of $23.8 billion over the next decade.

Government subsidies, loans, mandates, and tax policies regarding renewables have consistently failed to deliver on their promises of long-term job creation and economic viability. Americans deserve access to energy solutions that are affordable and reliable—ones that should be able to stand on their own in the marketplace.

We encourage you to oppose efforts to use unrelated legislation as a vehicle to extend expiring tax provisions for renewable energy. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Brent Gardner, Vice President of Government Affairs, Americans for Prosperity
Amy Noone Frederick, President, 60 Plus Association
Phil Kerpen, President, American Commitment
Dan Schneider, Executive Director, American Conservative Union
Matt Schlapp, Chairman, American Conservative Union
George David Banks, Executive Vice President, American Council for Capital Formation
Sean Noble, President, American Encore
Tom Pyle, President, American Energy Alliance
Coley Jackson, President, Americans for Competitive Enterprise
Peter J. Thomas, Chairman, Americans for Constitutional Liberty
Richard Manning, President, Americans for Limited Government
Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform
Marita Noon, Executive Director, Citizens’ Alliance for Responsible Energy (CARE)
Tom Brinkman Jr., Chairman, Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST)
Myron Ebell, Director, Center for Energy and Environment, Competitive Enterprise Institute
Dan Caldwell, Vice President for Political and Legislative Action, Concerned Veterans for America
Tom Schatz, President, Council for Citizens Against Government Waste
Craig Richardson, Executive Director, Energy & Environment Legal Institute (E&E Legal)
Marita Noon, Executive Director, Energy Makes America Great
Dick Ribbentrop, Senior Vice President, Policy, Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce
Wayne T. Brough, Ph.D., Chief Economist and VP for Research, FreedomWorks
George Landrith, President, Frontiers of Freedom
Andrew Clark, President, Generation Opportunity
Michael A. Needham, Chief Executive Officer, Heritage Action for America
Andrew Langer, President, Institute for Liberty
Seton Motley, President, Less Government
Daniel Garza, Executive Director, The LIBRE Initiative
Dee Hodges, President, Maryland Taxpayers Association
Harry C. Alford, President/CEO, National Black Chamber of Commerce
Amy Ridenour, Chairman, National Center for Public Policy Research
Willes K. Lee, President, National Federation of Republican Assemblies
Pete Sepp, President, National Taxpayers Union
David Williams, President, Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Judson Phillips, Founder, Tea Party Nation
Brooke Rollins, President, Texas Public Policy Foundation