06.17.08
“Time is of the essence. The United States Supreme Court likely will be releasing an opinion in a matter of days on whether Exxon Mobil must pay out $2.5 billion in punitive damages to fishermen and other Alaskans impacted by the crude oil spill in Prince William Sound in 1989. Our goal is to get a bill to the White House that the President will sign - as quickly as possible - that contains the Murkowski proposal to give individual plaintiffs the ability to increase retirement contributions and to provide tax relief through income averaging.
“The President has said he would veto the Democrats’ tax extenders proposal, so we voted today against taking up the bill in order to facilitate a compromise. We are working with leadership of both parties to ensure that the Murkowski tax language is included in whatever compromise bill passes the Senate and is signed into law by the President.
“Time is also of the essence for passage of the renewable energy Production Tax Credit and the other energy efficiency provisions contained in this bill. For wind projects especially to proceed to construction this summer, the credit needs to be signed into law quickly, not face weeks of additional uncertainty and then additional delay when Congress has to start over after a Presidential veto.”
SENATORS MURKOWSKI AND STEVENS FIGHT FOR EXXON VALDEZ OIL SPILL TAX LEGISLATION
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Ted Stevens today made the following statement following their vote against a procedural motion to move to a Democratic bill that would extend or revise dozens of tax incentives.“Time is of the essence. The United States Supreme Court likely will be releasing an opinion in a matter of days on whether Exxon Mobil must pay out $2.5 billion in punitive damages to fishermen and other Alaskans impacted by the crude oil spill in Prince William Sound in 1989. Our goal is to get a bill to the White House that the President will sign - as quickly as possible - that contains the Murkowski proposal to give individual plaintiffs the ability to increase retirement contributions and to provide tax relief through income averaging.
“The President has said he would veto the Democrats’ tax extenders proposal, so we voted today against taking up the bill in order to facilitate a compromise. We are working with leadership of both parties to ensure that the Murkowski tax language is included in whatever compromise bill passes the Senate and is signed into law by the President.
“Time is also of the essence for passage of the renewable energy Production Tax Credit and the other energy efficiency provisions contained in this bill. For wind projects especially to proceed to construction this summer, the credit needs to be signed into law quickly, not face weeks of additional uncertainty and then additional delay when Congress has to start over after a Presidential veto.”
