Sunday, February 2, 2014
Question of the Day
Congress' mammoth farm bill restores the imposition of an extra fee on home heating oil. Do you think that fee is needed?
Congress' mammoth farm bill restores the imposition of an extra fee on home heating oil, hitting consumers in cold-weather states just as utility costs are spiking.
The fee — two-tenths of a cent on every gallon sold — was tacked on to the end of the 959-page bill, which is winding its way through Capitol Hill. The fee would last for nearly 20 years and would siphon the money to develop equipment that is cheaper, more efficient and safer, and to encourage consumers to update their equipment.
It's just one of dozens of provisions tucked into the farm bill, which cleared the House on a bipartisan 251-166 vote last week and faces a key filibuster test in the Senate on Monday. It is expected to survive and face final passage Tuesday before heading to President Obama's desk.
Taxpayer groups say the bill could increase spending over the previous version and that it's crammed with favors for individual lawmakers, such as rules legalizing industrial hemp.
The heating oil fee was backed by Northeast lawmakers who said it would fund important research to benefit consumers.
"The National Oilheat Research Alliance (NORA) has long benefitted low- and middle-class families and small businesses throughout the Northeast and other cold weather states," Rep. Leonard Lance, New Jersey Republican, said in a statement. "The program improves energy efficiency and lowers heating bills at no cost to the U.S. taxpayer."
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Rep. Henry A. Waxman of California, the ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, did not want the program to be slipped into the massive bill without more scrutiny. He said the GAO audit raised questions that needed answers.
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/feb/2/fee-planted-in-farm-bill-could-increase-costs-of-h/?page=2#ixzz2sJx9N9TA
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