House GOP leaves Deeds’ green bills to rot

Republicans in the House of Delegates may have effectively killed two of Sen. R. Creigh Deeds’ bills that aimed to promote clean energy and create green jobs.
Deeds, who represents much of the Charlottesville area, says the GOP’s maneuver is an attempt to deny him a legislative success while he is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor.
“I’m running for governor, and this is something I’ve been talking about for a year-and-a-half,” Deeds said. “They didn’t want to give me a victory. They didn’t want to give Tim Kaine a victory.”

One of the bills, SB 1216, would have exempted from the state’s sales tax any purchases of wind- or solar-powered electricity generators for a residential property. Deeds introduced the measure at the request of Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, also a Democrat, who proposed the idea as part of his “Renew Virginia” initiative to clean up the state’s environment while simultaneously promoting economic growth and creating jobs.
The second measure, SB 1215, would have established financial incentives for companies that manufacture products that produce renewable energy, nuclear energy, or energy efficiency products. Companies would have qualified for grants if they made capital investments of more than $50 million or created at least 200 full-time jobs.

The two bills, Deeds said, were in the best interest of Virginia and would have led to environmentally friendly economic development across the state.
“They’re not political bills,” he said. “They’re bills that are good ideas for all Virginians.”
On Tuesday, the Republican majority in the House sent the two bills to the House Appropriations Committee, where Deeds and other Democrats said they expect they will not be considered before the General Assembly adjourns at the end of the month. Both bills already had received unanimous support in the Senate and had been approved by a separate House committee.
Deeds said the strategy is an old “trick” that lets lawmakers kill bills quietly. In this case, Deeds said, the move likely was politically motivated. “It’s almost a form of flattery,” he said.

House GOP lawmakers said they needed to send the bills to the Appropriations Committee because the measures had a fiscal impact that was not included in the House-approved two-year, $77 billion spending plan.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Lacey Putney, I-Bedford, did not immediately return a call for comment. Putney caucuses with the Republicans. Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle County, said he had not followed the issue closely enough to comment.
House Democrats expressed “frustration” during the floor debate Tuesday and unsuccessfully sought guarantees that the Appropriations Committee would consider the measures.
According to the sales tax exemption bill’s fiscal impact statement, the measure would reduce state and local revenues by an estimated $321,900 in both fiscal 2010 and 2011, with that figure increasing a bit in the following fiscal years.

The fiscal impact statement for the clean energy manufacturing incentives bill, meanwhile, did not include cost estimates. It did, however, say that the program would require an analysis to be conducted to ensure that any company receiving a clean energy grant would create a positive return on Virginia’s investment.
Deeds is one of three Democrats running in the June 9 gubernatorial primary election. He is facing former Del. Brian Moran of Alexandria and former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe of McLean.

The winner of the Democratic primary will face presumed GOP nominee Bob McDonnell in the general election.
Despite the apparent failure of Deeds’ two bills, another clean energy bill appears to have a good shot of clearing the House of Delegates. That measure, originally conceived by the Charlottesville City Council, would allow localities to establish a low-interest financing program to help homeowners and businesses invest in clean energy and energy-efficient building upgrades.