Oregon senator to try to extend county payments
Sunday, September 14, 2008 12:24 AM PDT
EUGENE (AP) — U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden is hoping this month to attach a multiyear county timber payments plan to major energy legislation the Senate is expected to consider. But an aide to Wyden cautioned that continuing payments critical to rural county governments across the West and beyond is not a done deal. The Senate Finance Committee has included the payments in its energy tax bill, Wyden announced this week. He wants to see that energy tax bill attached to the major energy legislation.
It would take 60 Senate votes to allow discussion of adding the energy tax bill to the major energy bill, said Tom Towslee, a Wyden spokesman.
The county payments are unrelated to the main energy bill, but Wyden has said he would try to attach them to any legislation up for consideration. The timber payments, which compensate counties stung by dropping timber sales on federal land, would run through 2011, Wyden said.
The payments expired in 2006 but Congress extended them one year, helping timber-dependent counties through the 2007-2008 fiscal year.
But congressional failure to renew the payments earlier this year prompted counties to slash budgets.
The energy-tax bill prepared by the Finance Committee is one of the most important bills facing the Senate this month.
Wyden said he is confident that his colleagues will agree to debate the energy-tax legislation because it addresses tax credits and incentives for alternative energy that expire soon.
Wyden also hopes that the county payments issue won’t be too controversial within the larger debate about energy, Towslee said.
‘‘I seriously doubt that the county payments would be the focus of debate at a time when Congress needs to do something about alternative energy,’’ he added.
If the Senate doesn’t block the energy-tax legislation and county payments from the major energy bill, the legislation would go to the House.
An attempt to renew the county payments died there in June because lawmakers opposed funding them with back royalties due to oil companies for government errors on drilling leases.
Wyden’s plan would fund the county payments through repeal of tax deductions to oil and natural gas companies, and with new taxes on those industries.
The funding approach is similar to that approved by the Senate last year, Towslee said. ‘‘It’s the best opportunity we’ve had for a while to get county payments passed,’’ Towslee said. ‘‘Obviously, there’s still some hurdles that need to be crossed here.’’
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Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com
