WASHINGTON — Tucked inside Republicans’ massive domestic policy bill is an excise tax for wind and solar projects, a provision that came as a surprise not just to the renewable energy industry, but also to numerous senators who are crafting the legislation.
In a twist, Republican senators insist they don’t know how or why the tax was inserted into the bill they’re rushing to pass. No senator is taking credit for or defending it. And at least one wants it removed.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the Budget Committee chairman, who released the 940-page bill, said he doesn’t know where that provision came from.
“It’s a secret, I guess,” Graham told NBC News on Monday evening. “I don’t know where it came from.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, was baffled by the provision, saying the excise tax “just came about” like it was “airdropped” into the bill before the vote Saturday to proceed.
“It wasn’t part of any consideration,” she said….
