Tucson lawmaker praises move to increase federal deposit insurance and extend solar tax credits
U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords today praised key parts of the Senate's version of legislation aimed at restoring confidence in our country's troubled financial markets.
The bill, which passed with strong bipartisan support Wednesday, includes provisions to increase the federal insurance caps for bank and credit union accounts and extend tax credits for renewable sources of energy like solar.
"The Senate bill is a step in the right direction and an improvement over the bill rejected by the House on Monday," said Giffords.
The Senate bill includes provisions to temporarily increase coverage for individuals' bank accounts to $250,000 by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund. For the last 28 years, the FDIC has insured individuals' deposits up to $100,000.
"Increasing this cap will restore confidence in our financial institutions and help small businesses and community banks," said Giffords. "With a higher cap, individuals will be encouraged to keep their hard-earned money in our community banks where it contributes to the growth and stability of our local economy."
Michael Hannley, President and CEO of Bank of Tucson praised the addition of the FDIC insurance provision. "People are concerned about the security of their bank deposits," said Hannley. "This increase in FDIC coverage will reassure the public that their money is safe and secure. It will also be extremely helpful to small businesses whose cash flow needs are higher than the current FDIC coverage. This is a great improvement to the financial rescue legislation."
Giffords, who has fought tirelessly for the eight year extension of solar tax credits, believes this measure will spur critical economic development in southern Arizona.
"Investing in renewable energy is one of the best ways we can stimulate innovation and create new jobs," said Giffords, a member of the House Science and Technology Committee. "Particularly here in Arizona, where the sun is so abundant, solar energy will have a profound impact on our economy and way of life. But advancing the use of solar energy cannot happen without extending the tax credits."
Without extending the tax credits, Giffords said, we risk scuttling plans for the world's largest solar plant southwest of Phoenix, a $1 billion facility that will provide power to 70,000 homes. And according to a recent independent study, extension of the renewable energy tax credits for eight years could lead to 440,000 jobs and attract $232 billion in investment nationwide.
"Extending the tax credits must get done if we are serious about finding viable, common sense solutions to the energy challenges confronting our nation," Giffords said.
Jeff Britt, Chief Technical Officer for Global Solar Energy, Inc. in Tucson, said the tax credits are vital. "The solar investment tax credit is essential to transforming solar energy from a niche business into a multi billion-dollar industry that can generate gigawatts of greenhouse gas-free electricity," he said. "We believe that several hundred new jobs will be generated in the local economy over the next decade as the solar industry grows."