Hoeven Outlines Efforts to Bolster Energy & Infrastructure Development

Senator Addresses Wanzek Construction Annual Meeting

FARGO, N.D. – At the Wanzek Construction annual meeting today, Senator John Hoeven outlined his efforts to bolster energy and infrastructure development in North Dakota and across the nation. These include:

Creating a pro-growth business climate through tax and regulatory relief.
Investing in the development of new energy technologies to encourage the modernization of existing facilities, as well as the development of new power plants and associated infrastructure.
Ensuring strong support for federal infrastructure programs.

“Energy and infrastructure drive our nation’s economy and are central to our quality of life,” said Hoeven. “In order to make investments in these large projects, companies require certainty and the ability to recoup their business expenses. Tax and regulatory relief provide just that. We are also working to encourage investment in new energy technologies that will allow us to update existing facilities and continue using all of our nation’s abundant energy resources. On top of this, we are maintaining strong federal funding for infrastructure and working to supplement federal programs through measures like my Move America Act.”

Tax & Regulatory Relief

Hoeven has made tax and regulatory relief top priorities throughout his time in Congress. Among other things, the senator has helped secure:

Reduced tax rates across the board for hardworking individuals and families.
A reduction in the tax rate for C-corps from 35% to 21%, making the U.S. tax system more competitive globally and bringing more capital and investment back to the U.S.
A new 20 percent small business deduction.
Full expensing of new investments for five years.
A revised Waters of the U.S. rule that recognizes the primary role of states and tribes in managing water resources within their borders.

Providing tax relief and removing duplicative, burdensome federal rules helps reduce unnecessary expenses and empowers business owners to invest more of their earnings into growing their operations. This translates to a stronger economy as well as an increased demand for labor, rising wages and greater government revenues over the long-term.

Innovative Energy Technologies

Hoeven continues to support the development of new technologies to reduce emissions from both traditional and renewable energy sources, including through the use of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies. To this end, the senator has recently introduced the Carbon Capture Modernization Act, legislation to modernize the 48A tax credit for clean coal facilities to better support CO₂ capture retrofit projects, like Project Tundra. Hoeven also continues working to reintroduce legislation to make the Section 45Q tax credit more accessible by aligning its tax guidelines with existing federal regulations and to extend the Section 45 refined coal tax credit.

Further, Hoeven worked as a member of the Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Committee to secure the following priorities in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 funding legislation:

$30 million to support the development of commercial-scale carbon capture retrofit technology, funding for which the next phase of Project Tundra would be eligible.
$25 million to develop supercritical CO₂ technologies for coal and natural gas plants like the Allam Cycle.
Increased funding for the U.S. Department of Energy’s CCS research programs.
A provision supporting DOE’s cooperative agreements with institutions like the Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) at the University of North Dakota.

Federal Infrastructure Programs

As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Hoeven helped ensure strong support for federal infrastructure programs in the FY 2019 funding legislation. This includes increased funding for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s programs for highways, bridges and airports, as well as an increase of $400 million for BUILD grants, formerly known as the TIGER program, a discretionary transportation infrastructure program that supports projects of national or regional significance.

In addition, Hoeven recently reintroduced his Move America Act. This bipartisan legislation would provide tax credits and tax-exempt bonds to help grow and repair the country’s infrastructure. Qualified projects include roads, bridges, transit, ports, rail, airports, water and sewer facilities and rural broadband.

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