Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., who has been one of the most vocal congressional opponents of the wind energy production tax credit (PTC), has sponsored a budget amendment in the U.S. Senate that would repeal the PTC – which he calls a ‘wasteful federal taxpayer subsidy for unreliable, expensive wind energy’ – in order to help pay for the repeal of the federal government's excise tax on medical devices.
‘This amendment is about ending two damaging tax policies that are costing Americans billions of dollars, and costing Tennesseans good jobs,’ Alexander said when sponsoring the amendment. "It gets rid of a 20-year-old, multibillion-dollar subsidy for unreliable, expensive wind energy that stands no chance of powering our nation's 21st century economy, and it repeals the Obamacare tax on life-saving medical devices – Tennessee's top export and an important source of good jobs.
"The federal government's taxpayer subsidy of wind is interfering with the marketplace," Alexander continued. "After receiving the subsidy for 20 years, the wind industry produces only nine percent of our pollution-free electricity. It's time for wind power to take its place in our free-market system and compete with natural gas, nuclear and coal."
The medical-device tax places a 2.3% excise tax on medical device manufacturers. Alexander says the amendment's ultimate goal would be to repeal both the PTC and the medical-device tax without increasing the federal debt.
