The House Ways and Means Committee is considering a 20% cut in the ethanol subsidy that is otherwise set to expire this year. A committee spokesman says a reduction of the tax credit from 45-cents to 36-cents per gallon was among ideas the panel was considering for a green-energy bill. The subsidy would be extended through next year. Even though a draft of the proposal will soon be released committee action is not expected until September.
Groups including the Renewable Fuels Association and the National Corn Growers Association say they want the existing tax credit extended. However Representative Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa, says it may come down to either extending the ethanol credit another year at 36-cents or not extending it at all. But Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee Collin Peterson says a cut of that size could doom the bill.