House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pushing a provision in President Biden’s “Build Back Better” legislation that provides subsidies for the purchase of electric vehicles as her husband’s stock in Elon Musk’s Tesla company soars, according to a Friday report.
The Washington Free Beacon noted that Tesla’s valuation has shot skyward to $1 trillion amid Democrats’ and the Biden administration’s push to provide tens of billions in taxpayer-funded subsidies to the electric vehicle industry, which includes Tesla. The legislation also provides for the construction of electric vehicle charging stations around the country while providing incentives to buy electric vehicles via tax credits.
“The financial dealings of Pelosi’s husband, Paul, came under scrutiny earlier this year when he purchased as much as $1 million of Tesla call options, one of the largest transactions of Tesla shares disclosed by a member of Congress,” the outlet reported. “At the time, Republicans charged that the House speaker was cashing in on her power.”
While members of Congress, their spouses, and their families are allowed to make stock purchases, they cannot do so based on insider information. Also, under U.S. statutes lawmakers are also required to reveal their stock transactions to the House Ethics Committee, and Pelosi did so following her husband’s Tesla purchase on Jan. 21.
But now the House Speaker is leading negotiations with the White House regarding infrastructure legislation dubbed the “Build Back Better” plan as well as a reconciliation measure that includes the electric car incentivization programs.
Industry watchers say that Tesla, which is an electric vehicle pioneer, would see substantial gains if the measures pass.
According to published information, the Democrat legislation would provide $120 billion for a number of clean energy projects with an additional $34.5 billion going strictly to electric vehicles. In addition, the reconciliation package, which is in the process of being trimmed from its original $3.5 trillion price tag, provides $42 billion in tax credits for Americans who buy electric vehicles. Democrats hope the incentives will lead more Americans to buy electric vehicles rather than gasoline-powered cars and trucks.
The measure offers as much as $12,500 in tax credits per vehicle while spending tens of billions on electric vehicle charging stations across the country.
The Free Beacon went on to note that the Musk-inspired electric automaker’s rise in value is also “likely attributable to several factors beyond the Democrats’ spending proposals.”
For instance, Musk recently announced he plans to relocate the company’s headquarters out of regulation-heavy California to Texas which does not have a state income tax. Also, the EV maker’s cars have gained in popularity even without taxpayer-supported buyer incentives.
“And while Tesla and other clean energy companies stand to gain with environmentally friendly Democrats in power, the company opposes some aspects of the reconciliation proposal, such as an additional credit for the purchase of electric cars made in unionized factories,” the outlet reported, adding: “Musk has publicly opposed unionization efforts.”
Earlier reports noted that Paul Pelosi purchased between $500,000 and $1 million in Tesla stock options at a set price of $500 per share in December. About a month later, President Biden signed an executive order “directing federal officials to transition federal, state, local and tribal government fleets to ‘clean and zero-emission vehicles,'” The Associated Press noted.
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