Although it has a broad base of support across the country (unlike a certain health care measure that 60+ percent of Americans don’t favor), renewal of the federal $1-a-gallon biodiesel tax incentive seems that it will have to wait at least a month at the earliest before Congress will get to it.
This article from Reuters says with Congressional recesses coming up, the measure is unlikely to see any action until at least the middle of next month:
While the House and Senate have passed bills to renew the credit for 2010, they must agree on a common text to send to the president. “Neither the House or Senate has signaled any particulars on how they will do that,” said Michael Frohlich of the National Biodiesel Board, a trade group.
The tax credit is one provision in a $149 billion bill focused on job creation and extension of tax incentives.
A resolution is unlikely before mid-April, said two biofuels officials. Congress soon will recess until April 13, they noted, and a final vote on the credit could be delayed until late April or later, depending on the pace of House-Senate negotiations.
So, instead of moving quickly on a bill that is projected to save 23,000 jobs that have been or are being lost by the biodiesel industry because of the loss of the credit, we have lawmakers in D.C. staying up late on a Sunday night to pass a bill (healthcare) that has only about one-third of the country’s support. Maybe they should have nick-named the measure the “Biodiesel Health Bill.”