WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Lisa
Murkowski, R-Alaska, today signaled her support for reforming federal ethanol
subsidies by voting for an amendment to repeal the ethanol tax credit and
import tariff.
“The
time has come to reform the most costly and least necessary assistance provided
by the government,” Murkowski said. “It’s difficult to justify the continuation
of these policies with the deficit set to exceed $1.6 trillion this year alone,
and other federal support for ethanol production, including the Renewable Fuel
Standard, remaining in place.”
The
amendment – which failed on a 40-59 vote – was offered by Sen. Tom Coburn,
R-Oklahoma, to the Economic Development Act (S. 782). It would
have terminated the 45-cent-per-gallon Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit
(VEETC), as well as the 54-cent-per-gallon tariff on ethanol imports, on June
30, or the date of the bill’s enactment. The tax credit and the tariff are
currently scheduled to expire at the end of 2011.
A
wide range of companies and organizations – ranging from environmental and
agricultural groups to the refiners who often benefit from VEETC – have
endorsed its termination. The Government Accountability Office has noted
that VEETC is “largely unneeded” today to ensure demand for domestic ethanol
production.
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