The House Energy and Commerce Committee voted today to pass legislation coauthored by Representative Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph), Chairman of the committee, to protect American taxpayer dollars from risky federal bets in the energy industry. The “No More Solyndras Act” (H.R. 6213) is the product of the committee’s long-running investigation into the $535 million U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) loan guarantee to the California solar panel manufacturer Solyndra. The company’s predicted bankruptcy cost thousands of jobs and left taxpayers on the hook for more than half a billion dollars. The measure passed committee by a bipartisan vote of 29 to 19 and will next head to the House Floor.
“As we work to put our nation’s fiscal house back in order, folks in Michigan deserve the peace of mind in knowing that their hard-earned tax dollars are not squandered on risky bets like Solyndra,” said Upton. “As our investigation of the stimulus-backed loan guarantee revealed, the Obama administration ignored the warnings time and again, ultimately leaving taxpayers on the hook for more than half a billion dollars. The ‘No More Solyndras Act’ demands greater transparency to protect the American taxpayer and phases out the failed loan guarantee program.”
As the committee’s investigation revealed, the Obama administration put Solyndra’s loan on the fast track despite repeated red flags and warnings from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and DOE officials. When the warnings came to fruition and Solyndra was out of cash in the fall of 2010, the Obama administration doubled down on its bad bet, restructuring Solyndra’s loan in early 2011 and putting wealthy investors at the front of the line ahead of taxpayers. Upton coauthored H.R. 6213 with Representative Cliff Stearns (R-FL), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, to ensure taxpayers are never again stuck paying hundreds of millions of dollars because of the Obama administration’s risky bets.
The “No More Solyndras Act” will phase out DOE’s flawed loan guarantee program under Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and provide taxpayers strong new protections for any pending participants in the program. The bill provides greater loan guarantee transparency by requiring DOE to report to Congress on the decision-making process and details of the loan. The bill also prohibits DOE from restructuring the terms of any guarantee and forbids the subordination of U.S. taxpayers’ dollars to any other investors.
