Chairman Pete Domenici (R-NM) of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last week gave up his quest to piggyback the broad energy measure to another legislative vehicle. Instead, he offered the energy measure (now S. 2095) as separate legislation on Thursday.

“It’s a stand-alone bill. It won’t go as an amendment anymore,” said Marnie Funk, a spokeswoman for Domenici. She noted debate on the bill is expected to begin when the Senate returns from its Presidents Day recess. She did not say when a vote was expected.

Feeling the heat over the budget deficit in Washington, Domenici and other Senate Republicans used razor-sharp knives to cut the cost of the one-time $31 billion omnibus energy bill by more than half.

The net cost of the energy bill (HR 6) now is approximately $13-$14 billion, according to Funk. “I have significantly reduced the cost of this bill and I’m confident it will get broad support in the Senate when it is considered,” Domenici said last week.

Domenici had wanted to attach the energy bill to the coattails of the $318 billion highway bill that passed the Senate on Thursday. But GOP leaders did not favor this strategy, said a Capitol Hill aide.

At a policy lunch last Tuesday, Chairman James Inhofe (R-OK) of the Environment and Public Works Committee “asked me not to offer my bill as an amendment to his highway bill,” Domenici said. “I am a chairman; I understand the challenges Chairman Inhofe faces with his bill. I will respect his wishes and wait.”

The stripped-down energy bill maintains a number of the tax breaks and incentives for the crude oil and natural gas industries that were in the House-Senate conference report. However, in attempt to save money, the effective date of some of the provisions have been postponed until fiscal year 2005 or later.

Key changes for oil and gas in the 1,242-page bill are:

The House passed the broad energy bill last November, but the measure stalled in the Senate when GOP leaders failed to garner enough votes to bring the measure to the floor. The House will be required to vote on the bill again, given the major changes that have been made to the measure.

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