U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL) this week led dozens of bipartisan members in requesting that U.S. House leadership promptly address the “unresolved issue” regarding the nation’s currently expired biodiesel tax incentive.
Last February, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 retroactively extended the biodiesel tax incentive for 2017, according to the Feb 11 letter Rep. LaHood and 43 other members signed and sent to House leaders. They noted, however, that the law left the tax credit expired for 2018 and beyond.
“Now, the industry is once again facing prolonged uncertainty about this policy,” the lawmakers wrote. “We strongly support a multi-year extension of the incentive to provide the policy certainty necessary to help the biodiesel industry and rural economies continue to grow.”
That certainty could support the more than 60,000 “good paying” U.S. jobs that are part of the biodiesel industry, the members wrote.
In fact, biodiesel blenders, producers, truck drivers, consumers, and farmers all share the benefits of the biodiesel and renewable diesel tax incentive, which the lawmakers said decreases the price of fuel and subsequently lowers the prices of consumer goods.
“Biodiesel production can add roughly 63 cents of value to every bushel of soybeans. That value is especially important right now, when farm income is at its lowest point in more than a decade, crop prices are below the cost of production, and farmers are bearing the brunt of ongoing trade disputes,” they wrote.
Among the 44 members who joined Rep. LaHood in signing the letter were U.S. Reps. Tom Emmer (R-MN), Jackie Walorski (R-IN), Don Bacon (R-NE), Sam Graves (R-MO), Mike Kelly (R-PA), Rodney Davis (R-IL), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), and John Moolenaar (R-MI). U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack (D-IA) was the lead Democrat who signed the letter.
The lawmakers said they “believe in making things in America” and said there’s no reason the nation’s fuel sources also can’t be produced at home.
“Biodiesel has been and continues to be a great American success story,” they wrote.
The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) also urged Congress to renew a proposed multi-year extension and phasedown of the tax credit, which NBB said will continue to foster growth in the biodiesel market.
In December 2018, during the 115th Congress, the House of Representatives approved such an extension in a provision that was negotiated with and supported by several senators, according to NBB, which said the provision “must be brought to a new vote” during the new Congress.
“The tax incentive works,” NBB said. “The U.S. biodiesel market grew from about 100 million gallons in 2005, when the tax incentive was first implemented, to more than 2.6 billion gallons in 2017. Biodiesel producers across the country continue to build capacity for growth.”