Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Senate bill to remove sunset on coal-washing tax credit draws divided testimony on jobs, royalties and company profits
Summary
Sen. Mary Usher said SB 333 would repeal the sunset of a coal-washing deduction that allows mines to deduct washing costs from contract sale price; industry witnesses argued the credit preserves a premium product and local jobs, while environmental advocates urged trigger language or review of company profitability and local benefit.
Senator Mary Usher opened the hearing on Senate Bill 333, which would repeal the statutory sunset on a coal‑washing tax credit first enacted in 2009.
Senator Usher told the House Taxation Committee the credit lets mines deduct the costs of removing impurities through a washing process from the contract sales price; proponents said that deduction enables mines to produce and sell a premium product at higher prices, which in turn increases severance tax collections and supports local employment. Charles Denow of Signal Peak Energy, the operator of Montana’s lone underground mine, said the mine employs roughly 260 people and that coal washing is necessary to produce a premium product demanded by international markets. Denow told the committee the cost of…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
