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U.S.
Rep. Mark Neumann
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MADISON - The leading tea
party-backed Republican candidate running for Wisconsin's open
U.S. Senate seat who has also been a longtime critic of a
federal stimulus program received more than $80,000 in stimulus
grants for his own solar energy company.
And another renewable energy
company run by former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann signed a letter in
November urging congressional leaders to keep the incentives
flowing.
The letter contradicts Neumann's
campaign stance calling for the immediate end to the 2009
stimulus program, enacted by Congress as a way to spur economic
investment in the midst of a recession. In his 2010 campaign for
governor, Neumann said he would devote any Wisconsin stimulus
money to tax cuts and reducing the state's debt.
Neumann on Thursday argued that
because the grant program he benefited from started as a
Bush-era tax credit, it shouldn't be viewed as part of the 2009
economic stimulus law signed by President Barack. Neumann's
company applied for and received the grant because having the
money upfront was more beneficial than waiting for the tax
credit, Neumann said.
"Clearly the taking of the
payment allows me to reinvest the money sooner," he said.
While the Bush administration did
offer a renewable energy tax credit, the 2009 stimulus made the
important change of making the money available up front as a
grant. That helps companies achieve quicker returns on
investments and allows them to free up funds for future
projects.
A list of recipients of the
stimulus grants maintained by the Solar Energy Industries
Association shows that Neumann Solar Leasing received $81,816 on
July 28. The company buys and owns solar equipment and then
either sells the electricity generated to the end user or leases
the equipment.
The money came in the form of a
grant under the so-called 1603 Treasury program, which provides
cash worth 30 percent of costs for renewable projects. The
program expired on Dec. 31 after Congress couldn't agree on an
extension.
SunVest Solar Inc., a company
Neumann is president of, signed on to a Nov. 30 letter sent to
House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
and other congressional leaders urging Congress to continue the
cash grant stimulus program.
A coalition of environmental
groups, including Friends of the Earth, the National Audubon
Society and the Sierra Club also sent a letter in December
urging the extension of the program, which it said was helping
to curb global warming and reducing pollution.
SunVest, based in Waukesha, is a
general contractor that sells and hires subcontractors to
install solar energy systems for businesses, schools and
churches.
The letter signed by SunVest and
763 other individual companies, associations and trade groups
called the stimulus renewable energy grant program "a
resounding success," saying it had leveraged $22.8 billion
in private sector investments to support 22,000 projects in all
50 states.
The letter also reinforced
Neumann's point that the change in timing for the incentive,
from a tax credit to be taken later to an upfront grant as Obama
structured it, improved the benefit.
"This change in timing,
however, provides the liquidity needed for the further
development of domestic energy projects," the letter said.
The importance of the change is
also highlighted by the SEIA, a national trade group
representing the solar energy industry. Making the money
available as a grant simplified financing for renewable energy
programs at a time when developers' tax burdens made it
impossible for them to take advantage of tax incentives, the
group says on its website.
The group said the stimulus grant
program "revived the renewable energy industry in 2009 when
the lack of tax equity financing in late 2008 brought many
projects to a halt."
Neumann said money his companies
received from the Bush-era tax cut and the Obama stimulus grants
combined has allowed him to create about 50 jobs in Wisconsin.
He did not know how much in tax incentives he had collected in
total.
Federal funding for renewable
energy programs has come under criticism because of questions
surrounding Solyndra LLC, a California solar company that
received a $528 million federal loan and later declared
bankruptcy, prompting a federal investigation. Republicans in
Congress have targeted Obama's clean energy program, calling
Solyndra an example of 'crony capitalism.'
Neumann has been a vocal critic
of the federal stimulus as he tries to position himself as the
most conservative candidate in the U.S. Senate race that also
includes former Gov. Tommy Thompson and state Assembly Speaker
Jeff Fitzgerald.
The Thompson and Fitzgerald
campaigns had no immediate comment.
They are seeking the seat being
vacated by retiring Democratic U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl. U.S. Rep.
Tammy Baldwin is the only Democrat running.
When he announced his candidacy,
Neumann called the stimulus a failure and said he would lead the
conservative charge to "change course immediately."
In Neumann's 2010 campaign for
governor, he ran a television ad that was critical of the
stimulus bill and lambasted the state's acceptance of $810
million for a high-speed passenger train line connecting
Milwaukee to Madison. Gov. Scott Walker, who defeated Neumann in
the GOP primary and went on to be elected as governor, rejected
that money.
This isn't the first time
Neumann's campaign rhetoric against the stimulus has
contradicted his business dealings. Last year it was revealed
that a private school he started in Phoenix as an alternative to
public schools there received $174,007 in federal stimulus
money.
Neumann said then that he wasn't
aware of the award.
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