Snowe defends paper-mill tax credit
Sen. Olympia Snowe yesterday urged Congress to retain a controversial tax credit that has allowed paper mills to qualify for billions in tax credits.
The tax credit since 2007 has allowed U.S. pulp and paper mills to qualify for a 50-cents-per- gallon tax credit for using a mix of diesel and an alternative fuel known as black liquor, according to a press release from the senator. Snowe said the credits are critical to supporting an industry that, she said in the release, "is hanging by a thread." Maine mills like Verso Paper Corp., which received a $29.7 million tax credit for its Jay mill in last year's fourth quarter, are benefitting from the credit, according to the Portland Press Herald.
Snowe and several other senators defended the tax credit before the Senate Finance Committee. Some in Congress want to eliminate the credit before it expires at the end of the year because of its unintended payouts, according to the paper. The tax credit was expected to cost the government $61 million this year, but is now expected to clock in at $3.3 billion because of paper mill requests.
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