One Big Beautiful Bill Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, on July the Fourth, President Trump signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The centerpiece of this legislation is a permanent extension of the 2017 tax law, thereby averting the largest tax hike in American history without a vote of Congress.

In addition to this, the bill rolls back the Biden administration's Green New Deal. This includes pairing back supercharged green subsidies enacted by my Democrat colleagues as part of the so-called Inflation Reduction Act.

I have long been a strong proponent of developing alternative energy resources as part of an all the above energy strategy.

I am proud to be the original author of the wind production tax credit. When Congress enacted that credit in 1993, less than one-tenth of 1 percent of U.S. electricity production came from wind. Today, it is over 10 percent. And in my home State of Iowa, it is over 60 percent. Wind development has been an unquestionable success.

My view has always been that tax incentives intended to spur fledgling industries shouldn't last longer than necessary. That is why in 2015 I worked with both the wind and solar industries to phase out their credits over a period of years. Unfortunately, the Democrats so- called Inflation Reduction Act reversed course and supercharged these credits once more.

As part of the One Big Beautiful Bill, much like I did in 2015, I worked with my colleagues to provide wind and solar an appropriate glidepath for the orderly phase-out of the tax credits.

Many of my colleagues advocated pulling the rug out from wind and solar projects, but I worked to find a sensible compromise. Based on that compromise, the law's December 31, 2027, placed-in-service requirement for wind and solar facilities is only effective for ``facilities the construction of which begins after the date which is 12 months after the date of enactment.''

This change is intended to grant the wind and solar industries a yearlong transition to confidently move forward with planned projects under the existing continuity safe harbor and the beginning of construction guidance in effect at the time of the law's enactment.

The statute expressly codifies what it means to ``begin construction.'' Congress consciously elected to set the provisions effective date by reference to ``beginning of construction'' because of its long- and well-established meaning at the time of enactment. Treasury guidance with respect to when construction begins, along with its continuity safe harbor, goes back more than a decade.

It is simply common sense for Congress to look to a well-understood and long-established term in establishing such a transition period. After all, the purpose of a transition period is to allow industry time to adjust to new rules and requirements and avoid market disruptions.

As the Department of the Treasury works to implement the One Big Beautiful Bill, I urge agency officials to do so in accordance with the statute as written and consistent with congressional intent.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source