Federal Legislation Affecting Ethanol
Two
bills, directly effecting the federal alcohol (ethanol) tax incentive, have been
introduced during the 105th Congress, in the U.S. House of Representatives.
These bills include:
H.R. 161, introduced by Reps. Phil English
(R-PA), Barney Frank (D-MA), and Jim McDermott (D-WA), would essentially
terminate the tax incentive for large producers (grossing more than $1 million
annually) of ethanol used as fuel after 1998; and disallow the tax incentive for
alcohol used to produce any ether, effective immediately. H.R. 161 was
introduced on January 9, 1997, and referred to the House Ways and Means
Committee.
H.R. 587, introduced by Rep. Ken Bentsen, (D-TX), would
also eliminate the tax incentive for fuel ethanol. H.R. 587 was introduced on
Feb. 5, 1987, and referred to the House Ways and Means Committee.
In
addition, the following bills could be used as a vehicle for repealing the
ethanol tax incentive.
H.R. 4, H.R. 205, H.R. 255, and H.R. 644,
were all introduced in the 105th Congress and have been referred to the House
Ways and Means Committee. To the extent that these bills deal with the
Congressional authority to enforce tax procedures, they could be used by Ways
and Means Committee Chairman Bill Archer (R-TX) as a vehicle for repealing the
ethanol tax incentive.
During the 104th Congress, Archer used the
Budget Reconciliation Act as a vehicle to detrimentally effect the
ethanol industry. These bills, because they deal with tax measures, would fall
under the jurisdiction of the Ways and Means Committee.
| This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture under agreement No. 43-3AES-5-80074. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. |
