NTU urges all Representatives to vote “NO” on H.R. 4447, the Expanding Access to Sustainable Energy Act. This legislation would likely authorize at least $135 billion in new spending without significant offsets, all for legislative efforts that have nothing to do with the immediate health and economic crises brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. While climate change and America’s energy future are important issues for Congress to consider, at a time of unprecedented debt and deficits we believe Congress should focus any new spending at this time on targeted solutions to the pandemic’s severe impacts.
H.R. 4447 is a 900-page bill that most Members of Congress have had mere days to analyze and consider. As of the morning of September 23, merely a day or two before roll call votes on H.R. 4447, there still is not even a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) cost estimate for the bill. In the absence of a CBO cost estimate, we must rely in part on the estimate of Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), the Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee. Ranking Member Shimkus says the bill includes at least $135 billion in new spending. The bill does not appear to include significant offsets. At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is still having severe public health and economic impacts across the country, we believe legislative efforts should be focused first and foremost on COVID-19 relief efforts.
Time is dwindling before Congress plans to start an extended recess this fall. This short time should be spent on COVID-19, not on a 900-page bill with new spending that does not, at this moment, appear to contain budgetary offsets. Once the pandemic-related crises have subsided, NTU encourages Congress to consider bipartisan legislation such as The Growing Climate Solutions Act (S. 3894 / H.R. 7393), which would take a market-based approach to reducing carbon emissions in the agricultural sector. We would also encourage lawmakers to examine regulatory reform efforts that would allow the private sector to more rapidly deploy new and groundbreaking technologies meant to mitigate climate change and its deleterious effects.
Roll call votes on H.R. 4447 will be included in NTU’s annual Rating of Congress and a “NO” vote will be considered the pro-taxpayer position.
If you have any questions, please contact NTU Policy and Government Affairs Manager Andrew Lautz at alautz@ntu.org.