In the News

FIGHTING TO LOWER GAS PRICES

In recent months, Americans have felt the negative effects of rising oil prices, affecting many facets of daily life from the gas tank to the dinner table. My colleagues and I in Congress are working on behalf of Americans to provide relief for high gas prices by lowering energy costs for consumers, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, and initiating a cleaner and wiser energy policy for the future of our country.

This spring, the House of Representatives passed three pieces of legislation that will assist with lowering energy costs. To facilitate the immediate decrease in gas prices, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 6074, the Gas Price Relief for Consumers Act, on May 20, 2008. This bill will give the U.S. Department of Justice the authorization to take legal action against international cartels like OPEC that participate in conspiracies to fix, or limit the supply of oil in which drive up gas prices.

In order to provide temporary, yet timely relief of high gas prices, the House of Representatives also passed legislation that would temporarily suspend purchases of oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). H.R. 6022, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Fill Suspension and Consumer Protection Act, was signed into law by the President on May 19, 2008. This law will temporarily stop the filling of the SPR, which is nearly full anyway, starting June 30th and continuing through the end of the year. This action could reduce gas prices by 5 to 24 cents a gallon; helping families and businesses across the country cope with the high price of fuel.

Furthermore, in order to address the issue of dependence on foreign oil and the need for renewable energy sources, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 6049, the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008 on May 21, 2008. This bill seeks to expand tax incentives for renewable energy, including hybrid cars and energy efficient appliances and homes, as well as retain and create hundreds of thousands of green energy jobs. In addition, this law increases our commitment to biofuel blends and other American-grown biofuels, which experts estimate are keeping gas prices about 15 percent lower than they otherwise would be now.

Members of Congress understand the financial burden that high gas prices bear. We are committed to resolving this problem and I will continue to promote legislation that will further assist in combating high gas prices.

REBATE CHECKS TO ARRIVE THIS WEEK

The Treasury Department, in hopes of boosting the American economy, has announced that recovery rebate checks will be going out a week ahead of schedule. Electronic filers will begin receiving rebates as early as April 28, 2008. Paper checks, for taxpayers that filed their tax returns by mail, will be sent starting May 9 - one week earlier than originally planned. The order in which taxpayers will receive their rebate is based on the last two digits of their social security number.

Individuals are eligible to receive a rebate check if they filed their income tax return by April 15, 2008 and earned at least $3,000 in 2007, including through Social Security or veterans' disability benefits. Individual filers with an income of more than $75,000 or couples with an income of more than $150,000 will receive only a partial rebate.

Please take note that individuals filing a 2007 tax return with the IRS only to receive your recovery rebate should do so by October 15, 2008 to receive the payment in 2008.

For more information regarding rebate checks please check out my E-newsletter on tax rebates.