June 29, 2009

U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, today voted against a massive increase in bureaucracy and taxes on energy that would further increase Michigan's current economic hardship.

"The massive national energy tax - better known as 'cap and trade' - will have little to no impact on climate change, but a disastrous impact on taxpayer paychecks," Hoekstra said. "It will provide a significant increase in Washington taking taxpayer dollars and create a huge new bureaucracy at the expense of jobs and economic activity."

The average family can expect an additional $3,000 a year in food, transportation and electricity costs. It also includes such extraneous provisions as three years of unemployment for jobs that undoubtedly will be lost as a result of the bill, including a moving allowance of $1,500 for displaced workers, which will obviously be necessary in Michigan as a result of the bill.

The bill would result in an enormous loss of jobs that would ensue when U.S. industries are unable to absorb the cost of the national energy tax and other provisions, causing jobs to be sent overseas. The tax has the potential of outsourcing millions of manufacturing jobs to countries such as China and India.

Residents of rural Midwestern states will also feel the impact of the tax increase because they purchase far more fuel for transportation than their urban counterparts and it costs much more to deliver electricity to rural homes and farms. It will result in states such as Michigan purchasing more "carbon credits," the costs of which will be passed on to consumers and leaving the East and West coast states with credits to sell.

"The new tax may be great for Massachusetts and California, but it will be a disaster for Michigan," Hoekstra said. "Taxpayers in a state with an unemployment rate of 14.1 percent simply cannot afford another tax burden and job killer."

Furthermore, the Speaker Pro Tempore of the House acknowledged that the 300-page manager's amendment adopted by the Rules Committee at 4 a.m. was still being "integrated" in the 900-page bill by the House clerk. In the process, changes made by the more than 300-page amendment had to be physically inserted into the bill. Since the clerk's office had not completed the task, no member of the House could have read actual final text of the bill prior to the vote.

"Taxpayers should be incredulous that not one member out of 435 members of the House of Representatives could read a bill before they were required to vote on it," Hoekstra said. "It is outrageous that we did not have access to a bill text that will impact every American and every industry."