By U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud(D-Maine)
Last week I called on Congress and the Administration to work together to pass an effective stimulus package that would help millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet and help give a much needed boost to our economy. It appears that we are not going to do that. Some in the Senate have held up progress and the Bush Administration seems content to punt the immediate economic needs of our country to the next Administration and the next Congress.
As I write this, instead of taking up a comprehensive package which includes an extension of unemployment benefits and food stamps, aid to state governments and investments in infrastructure, the Senate is poised to pass a bill extending unemployment that the House passed a while ago. While I am pleased that they are moving on this bill, it is disappointing that we cannot do more.
The U.S. Department of Labor recently released its employment report for October. The results were devastating. It showed a loss of another 240,000 American jobs, which brings the total number of jobs lost this year to 1.2 million.
Our economy obviously faces serious challenges. People in Maine and throughout our country are hurting. I remain optimistic that the new Congress can work with President-Elect Obama’s Administration to pass something quickly.
In the meantime, I believe that we must look at all policies that are within our control to help our ailing economy and prevent the hemorrhaging of more jobs.
Before the 110th Congress adjourned, I introduced legislation that would help reduce energy costs and support the transition to greener power among struggling industries nationwide, including Maine’s paper industry. While it is obviously too late to pass this year, I wanted to introduce it now in order to build support for the measure so that I can be in a better position to advance it next year.
The need for the legislation, especially in a state like Maine, is clear. Under the current tax code, biomass energy producers who sell their power into the grid can take a tax credit for the production of this green energy. However, biomass energy producers who use that energy on-site, like many of Maine’s paper mills, are not allowed to take that tax credit.
The legislation that I introduced would rectify this inequity by extending the tax credit to all who produce biomass energy, whether the power is used on-site or off-site. Passing it would promote the conversion of many plants from costly and environmentally-unfriendly petroleum fuels to locally-produced, greener biofuels. It also holds the potential to make our manufacturing industry more competitive, which should help promote domestic job creation and retention. The American Forest and Paper Association estimates that this bill will save Maine mills up to $19 million annually.
In working on this legislation, I consulted with local and national forest products representatives as well as the State of Maine. I look forward to working in the next Congress to build support for this initiative and push for its adoption. We need to be doing everything that we can to revive our economy.
