Hello Plug In America supporters!
After working non-stop for the past couple of days on some important issues in DC, Jay Friedland, Plug In America’s Policy Director, came up for air to update us on this recent Plug In America policy action. Thank you all who mobilized to help – hundreds of supporters flooded e-mail addresses for key Congressional staffers in an effort to ensure that EVs remain as widely available as possible. It worked!
Cheers,
Kirk
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From Jay Friedland, Plug In America’s Policy Director
We just passed a major hurdle on the road to getting extensions for two out of the three EV Federal Tax Credits that expired at the end of 2011.
At about 2:30pm EDT today, the Senate Finance committee approved a tax extenders package with two year extensions (through 2013) on the 30% tax credit for EV infrastructure and the 10% tax credit for e-motorcycles. The third tax credit for plug-in conversions did not make it into any of the amendments, so Plug In America will try to work with this nascent industry to see if we can gain some corporate support as the bill moves further. This was a significant victory because the main tax extenders bill markup did not include some of the the tax credits going in and we were able to leverage that to get a two year extension in the key amendment, rather than just a tax credit through the end of 2012.
Hundreds of Plug In America’supporters weighed in by contacting Senate Finance committee staffers, to the point where they asked Plug In America to stop the emails!
Our supporters made a major difference in making sure that we keep these key incentives that help EVs gain market share and reduce the cost for consumers. Here’s one good illustration of the voice of our supporters from Montana (name & contact information taken out to protect privacy):
Sen. Max Baucus:
Dear Senator, I am [CEO of a startup] in Bozeman developing a solar powered EV charging system. I’m concerned that plug-in vehicle technology is not being considered as part of the Senate Finance tax extension package. These vehicles and their infrastructure are critical to America’s future energy independence – please vote yes on any amendments supporting the EV extenders package including electric motorcycles, electric vehicle chargers, and electric vehicle conversions. These companies are creating American jobs and the US is currently leading the world in electric vehicle technology – we need to stay ahead! Thank you.
The final vote on the package was 19-5 (bipartisan!). The title of the bill is “FAMILY AND BUSINESS TAX CUT CERTAINTY ACT OF 2012, Extension of Tax Provisions Expiring in 2011 & 2012”.
We still have to get the package through votes on the Senate floor and in the House (which won’t be easy). But since this includes key provisions like the AMT extension, R&D credit, and a number of issues near and dear to both sides of the aisle, our prospects of passing as part of the whole package have improved greatly.
I want to thank everyone for their support and work in getting this far!
Jay, Plug In America Policy Director
