Reinstating the expired biodiesel tax incentive continues to be the battle cry of the biodiesel sector. And last week there was a glimpse of hope when it seemed House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee leaders had reached an accord to settle the stalled tax provision.
The American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010 included an extension of the Alternative Fuels Mixture Tax Credit that expired at the end of 2009. At this point, the House and Senate have passed different versions of the tax extenders legislation.
The sticking points on the package were the offsets being proposed to cover the cost of tax credit extensions, such as the biodiesel tax credit.
Monday the House Rules Committee was scheduled to meet and schedule a time for bill consideration. However, staffers indicate the House has again delayed consideration of the bill.
Pat Wolff, director of public policy for the American Farm Bureau Federation, says the Rules Committee did meet Monday, but did not act on the bill. They are still working on the pay-fors, or the offsets to pay for increased spending. "House leaders hope to get the bill to the floor on Wednesday," she says.
The bill will have to pass both Houses before it goes to the President for a final signature.
Optimism on passage
For months a vehicle for the passage of the biodiesel tax credit extension has been hard to find. The biodiesel industry continues to say that the lack of the $1 credit is bringing the industry to a screeching halt.
Logan Caldwell, president of Houston BioFuels Consultants, says the extension has a lot of rumors and politics in play. He says it is close to a 50/50 chance on whether or not it will get extended.
Ian Horowitz, senior analyst for Rafferty Capital Markets, is a bit more optimistic, assuming the biodiesel credit will get passed in short order. "I'm not sure anyone is ready to pull the plug on an industry they promoted just yet," he says.
He also says he wonders if the renewal of the biodiesel credit will actually put pressure on the ethanol credit, especially seeing that ethanol has positive blend economics without it, he adds.
Policy is one of the most important issues facing farmers today, but often the most difficult to digest. Jacqui Fatka has a passion to decode the often difficult world of agricultural policy into terms understandable for today's ag players.
Fatka joined the Farm Progress team as E-Content Editor in August 2003 after graduating from Iowa State University. Prior to full-time employment with Farm Progress, she interned at Wallaces Farmer magazine, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley's press office and the Iowa Pork Producers Association and freelanced for National Hog Farmer. She also worked as a public relations consultant with Iowa Industries for the Future, an effort to bring together major players in the biorenewables industry.
Currently Fatka is a staff editor at a sister publication, Feedstuffs. For Farm Futures she regularly tells the story of ongoing agricultural policy changes. Her byline can also be found on management profiles.
Fatka grew up on a grain and livestock farm near Atlantic, Iowa. She currently lives in central Ohio with her husband Eric.
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