APPA's Legislative Issues/Resolutions
APPA is the single national organization representing the collective interests of public power in Washington. APPA's staff has key relationships with federal regulatory agencies and Congressional representatives that impact energy policy. The collective clout of APPA and its members enables public power to speak with one strong, unified voice. More information on the major issues impacting public power or for our policy positions, please click on the related link. Information on our coalitions can be found by clicking here.
BREAKING NEWS
Make public power a priority. Connect with your congressional delegation during August recess
We need your help to carry public power's messages on the Clean Renewable Energy Bond program, coal-ash and pole attachments. We have created a grassroots toolkit to assist public power advocates with educating Members of Congress on these important issues.
APPA Passes New Resolutions
APPA passed three new resolutions at the 2010 National Conference this past week which state the public power community's positions on small hydropower, maintaining the municipal exemption for pole attachments, and stating our support for delaying EPA regulation on greenhouse gas emissions through the Clean Air Act. These resolutions passed voice vote at the Legislative & Resolutions Committee meeting at the National Conference in Orlando. These resolutions will be combined with the others passed by APPA membership at Legislative Rally earlier this year and will guide APPA's government relations efforts in 2010.
Bingaman Holds Carbon Capture and Storage Legislative Hearing (04/21/2010)
On Tuesday, April 21, 2010 Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, held a hearing to receive testimony on carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) legislation, including S. 1856, S. 1134, and other draft legislative text. Other Members present include Ranking Member Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY), and Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND). For a more detailed summary, click here.
Derivatives Bill Passes Out of Senate Agriculture Committee (04/21/2010)
On Wednesday, April 21, 2010 the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry passed the Wall Street Transparency and Accountability Act of 2010 by a vote of 13-8 with all Democrats and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) voting for passage. A summary of the current state of play can be found here. To see legislative language and summaries of this bill go to the Senate Agriculture Committee's website: http://ag.senate.gov/site/legislation.html
19 Senators Sign Letter in Support of Public Power Inclusion in Grant Program (04/20/2010)
This letter, signed by 19 Senators, was sent Monday, April 19, 2010 to Senate leadership in support of Senator Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) Renewable Energy Incentive Act, S. 2899. This bill would extend for two years, and expand to public power, the Section 1603 grant program for renewable energy projects from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The letter requests that the bill be included in the next "jobs bill" or similar appropriate vehicle.
APPA Submits Appropriation Requests (04/02/2010)
APPA recently sent this outside witness testimony to the relevant subcommittees of the House Appropriations Committee outlining our requested funding levels for programs of importance to public power in Fiscal Year 2011. The Subcommittees will work toward marking up their appropriations bills in coming weeks and months before the bills move to the full Committee and the House floor. Identical statements were sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee this week.
House Agriculture Statement
House CJS Statement
House Energy and Water Statement
House Interior Statement
House LHHS Statement
Senate Agriculture Statement
Senate CJS Statement
Senate Energy and Water Statement
Senate Interior Statement
Senate LHHS Statement
APPA Calls For Greater Wholesale Market Transparency; Expresses Concern Regarding Over-the-Counter Derivative Markets (02/23/2010)
APPA Signs Letter to President Requesting Pension Funding Relief [01/04/2010]
APPA, along with many other associations, signed onto a letter before the holidays to President Barack Obama requesting additional pension funding relief. Pension funding legislation is expected to move forward in the first quarter of the year.
Side-by-Side of House and Senate Energy Bills
APPA has produced a side-by-side comparison of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee-passed American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009, S. 1462, and the energy portions of the House of Representatives-passed American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, H.R. 2454. Please note that the cap-and-trade provisions are not included in this side-by-side because the Senate bill is energy-only. As you know, APPA has provided extensive analysis of the climate change cap-and-trade provisions in other documents, which may all be found at APPA's website at www.APPAnet.org. Web links to both bills have also been included, which include the complete table of contents for each.
APPA Signs Letter Encouraging Senate to Take Up Municipal Bond Market Legislation
Last week APPA signed a letter, along with several other organizations, to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-CT) requesting Senate action on a series of bills recently passed by the House Financial Services Committee. The legislation would be beneficial to the municipal bond market.
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Reports S. 1733 out of Committee
Following three days of boycotting by Republican Members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) moved forward with reporting S. 1733 out of the Committee. Due to Committee Rules, the absence of Minority Members resulted in the bill being reported out of the Committee without any amendments being offered, debated, or accepted.Following the Committee vote, Chairwoman Boxer noted that she believes S. 1733 will lead America in the right direction and stimulate billions of dollars in new development. She also noted that despite the boycott by Republicans, she is happy that the Committee was able to move forward. She concluded by stating that while no amendments were allowed to be offered, she will make sure to work with the members of the Committee to get their amendments addressed as the process moves forward. Following the remarks of Chairwoman Boxer other Committee Democrats took a moment to express their support for the bill and their dissatisfaction with the actions taken by Committee Republicans.
It is important to note that all Committee Democrats, except for Senator Baucus (D-MT), voted for passage of S. 1733. Senator Carper (D-DE) entered the mark up late and was recorded as a "yes" vote, making the final vote 11 to 1.
Chairwoman Barbara Boxer Schedules Committee Mark Up of S. 1733
Late last Friday night, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released the Committee's notice of intent to mark up S. 1733, "The Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act," on Tuesday, November 3rd beginning at 9:00 a.m. In response, Republican leadership on the Committee released a notice of their intent to boycott the mark up due to the absence of a full Environmental Protection Agency analysis of the bill and a score of the bill by the Congressional Budget Office. As of the time of this writing, committee staff reported that despite the notice released by Republicans, Chairwoman Boxer intends to move forward with the mark up. We will provide further updates as more information becomes available.
APPA Releases Grassroots Advocacy Tools on Kerry-Boxer Bill, S. 1733
APPA has developed a grassroots toolkit to help our members learn more about the Clean Energy Jobs & American Power Act, S. 1733, and the impacts to public power utilities. This toolkit includes:
A summary of the draft Senate bill
Talking points on the bill which summarizes our positions on the issues critical to public power
An overview of the relationship between the Kerry-Boxer bill and the existing Clean Air Act (and a couple of other relevant statutes, like the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act).
Myths vs. Fact document on the allocation of allowances to merchant coal generators.
Sample thank you letter for in person meeting.
Please contact Meghan McLaughlin, Grassroots Coordinator, at mmclaughlin@appanet.org or 202-467-2934 with any questions.
APPA has completed a summary and a section-by-section guide of the Senate climate change draft bill, entitled the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, which was released by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Senator John Kerry (D-MA) earlier this week. Both documents were prepared by Diane Moody, APPA Director of Statistical Analysis. Please note that APPA's summary does not contain information on the Clean Air Act provisions within the draft bill. To that end, APPA staff is continuing to analyze these Clean Air Act provisions and will provide more information in the near future. However, it is worth noting that the Senate draft does not preempt the Clean Air Act. Finally, APPA's staff will be conducting further analyses of the Senate draft bill and will provide those and other documents relating to the draft bill within the next few business days.
APPA sent this letter to all Senators on September 15, 2009 (individually addressed, this copy is addressed to Senator Boxer) regarding the pending climate change legislation. The letter lays out our priority issues and the need to address those issues as the legislation moves forward.
Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Released
