Last week, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) split with Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) in the name of the environment and all things verdant by voting against an $11.5 billion amendment to the stim package to give tax credits to purchasers of expensive cars. At the time, Cantwell said she would rather see a credit for purchasers of energy-efficient vehicles.
She seized her chance for green glory late in Friday’s high-tension session and got a $2.28 billion amendment tacked on to the package. The amendment provides manufacturers with $2 billion in incentive tax credits for investing in plug-in electric cars, and millions more in tax relief for purchasers of electric vehicles and for building the infrastructure necessary for putting more electric vehicles on the road.
Cantwell’s plan is bundled in such a way that it actually subtracts more money from the stimulus than it adds because it’s paired with another provision that raises an additional $2.5 billion by reducing energy spending to residential areas. The math seemed to please the GOP, because the amendment passed with a vote of 80-16, earning the support of all but staunch anti-stimulus Republicans like Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and David Vitter (R-LA).
The stimulus bill passed in the Senate this afternoon with the votes of three more centrist Republican Senators, and will go to committee this week. The plan’s architects hope a consensus on some of the stronger differences between Senate and House versions of the bill can be resolved soon so that a finished version of the bill can hit President Obama’s desk by next Monday.
