As the House Energy and Commerce Committee prepares to vote on the "No More Solyndras Act," Heritage Action released the following statement from CEO Michael A. Needham:
As our nation's debt approaches $16 trillion, Americans are desperate for leadership from Washington. The "No More Solyndras Act," would signal a clear end to business-as-usual and ensure taxpayers are never again on the hook for reckless, politically-motivated government boondoggles like Solyndra.
We commend those on the committee and beyond for pushing this commonsense step. When the government plays venture capitalist with taxpayer funds—we all lose. The American people deserve to know that their tax dollars are being spent wisely, and this bill takes an important step in that direction. Ultimately, we must move away from Washington picking winners and losers, and allow those decisions to be left to the free market.
The "No More Solyndras Act" would Phase out the Department of Energy's (DOE) loan guarantee program under Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and add new protections for taxpayers for any pending participants in the program. The bill greatly improves loan guarantee transparency by requiring the DOE to report to Congress on the decision-making process and details of the loan. The DOE would also be prohibited from restructuring the terms of any guarantee and forbids the subordination of taxpayer dollars to any other investors, which is unfortunately what happened with Solyndra.
In addition to the "No More Solyndras Act," Congress should also pass the Energy Freedom and Economic Prosperity Act, which would eliminate targeted subsidies for all energy industries, including oil and gas. These two bills combined would save taxpayers billions of dollars a year and remove the government from picking winners and losers in the energy industry.