The showdown over how to tax wind projects was going on quietly and sort of behind the scenes Wednesday in the Statehouse. It was another sign that legislative Democrats are not quite thinking in unison.
The House Natural Resources & Energy Committee had set a rate of a third of a penny per kilowatt hour produced. The House Ways & Means Committee, feeling less fond of wind power, chose a rate twice as high.
The last thing House leaders wanted was a floor fight among their own on this, so they spent the day shuttling to and fro, trying to avoid that.
Democrats reached a compromise that would put the tax at just over a half-penny, but it didn't seem like a very fair compromise to those who went into the session believing global warming legislation was a priority. The idea they left with Wednesday was that they'd work on lowering the tax rate in the Senate.
Last week, the Senate set aside the funding for its global warming legislation - a heating oil tax - with the idea that they'd work on a new funding source in the House. So it appears they're about to trade each other their problems with no sure sign of a solution.
- Terri Hallenbeck
