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Congressional Update
By Elizabeth K. Nevitt and Lori Pickford Congress remains in recess for the remainder of the campaign season and will return on Nov. 13 for a "lame duck" session. Before departing, Congress passed a continuing resolution, providing funding for the government through March 27, 2013. Following the Nov. 6 election, Congress will need to address the impending "fiscal cliff" of expiring tax provisions and $1.4 trillion in automatic spending cuts from both defense and non-defense programs, the co-called "sequestration" put in place by last year’s Budget Control Act. While there is rampant speculation on how this may play out, it is completely dependent on who wins the White House and what party controls the House and Senate. During the lame duck session, the issues of interest to NEPPA members that could potentially be addressed include cyber security legislation (see story below), a coal ash agreement, minor energy efficiency provisions, energy tax extenders, such as the production tax credit, and any potential guidance for members of Congress to address tax reform that would put proposals negatively affecting municipal bonds. However, most inside the Beltway speculate that Congress’ actions will be limited and most major issues will be "punted" for three to six months to allow the 113th Congress to organize and hopefully tackle the larger issues early in the next session. FERC Proposes to Guard against Geomagnetic Disturbances Senate to Revisit Cyber Legislation Post-Election; Issue Remains Hot APPA, others, Seek Sequestration Exclusion for Bonds FERC Reaffirms Order 1000 on Transmission Battle Over Renewable Energy Tax Credit Extension Heats Up |
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