Durbin: More ethanol votes likely

Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) said Tuesday that an upcoming vote to repeal a major tax break that benefits ethanol producers won’t be the last word on the matter.

The Senate will vote Tuesday afternoon on Sen. Tom Coburn’s (R-Okla.) amendment to almost immediately kill the ethanol blender’s credit and also end the ethanol import tariff.

Coburn’s amendment is likely to fall short of the 60 votes needed Tuesday, in part because Democratic leadership – irked by Coburn’s surprise procedural maneuvers last week to secure a vote – has been whipping against it.

But Durbin told reporters that the issue would likely resurface.  “At the end of the day I think we are going to face a vote on the ethanol program and how the savings will be credited. I don’t believe the way Tom approached it is the best way,” Durbin said in the Capitol Tuesday.

Asked if there will be an agreement that would allow votes on multiple proposals, Durbin replied “We are working on it,” but did not discuss timing or details.

The Coburn amendment to economic development legislation on the Senate floor mirrors legislation he introduced with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).

Opponents of the credit — which resulted in $5.4 billion in foregone federal revenue last year, according to the Government Accountability Office — point to savings from repeal, and say the incentive isn’t needed because the national renewable fuels mandate already required blending of ethanol into gasoline.

Feinstein told reporters that the leadership campaign against the amendment coming up Tuesday afternoon has likely knocked it below 60 votes.

“I think we had the votes. But whether we do now or not, I don’t know, the strong possibility is we do not,” she told reporters in the Capitol Tuesday.

The credit of 45 cents for each gallon of ethanol blended into gasoline is slated to expire at year’s end.

Ethanol backers are floating various plans to gradually phase-out the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit in coming years while extending certain other incentives (more on that here and here).

White House press secretary Jay Carney on Tuesday reiterated the administration’s opposition to simply killing the blender’s credit outright.

“We are for reforming it, but we are not for repealing it.  And we are for reforming it in a way that can cut costs, but not for complete repeal,” he said.