Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB2946 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 2946
5	5	To direct the Secretary of the Treasury to issue Clean Energy Victory
6	6	Bonds.
7	7	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
8	8	APRIL17, 2025
9	9	Ms. L
10	10	OFGREN(for herself and Ms. MATSUI) introduced the following bill;
11	11	which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addi-
12	12	tion to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, and Science, Space,
13	13	and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
14	14	Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within
15	15	the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
16	16	A BILL
17	17	To direct the Secretary of the Treasury to issue Clean
18	18	Energy Victory Bonds.
19	19	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
20	20	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
21	21	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
22	22	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Clean Energy Victory 4
23	23	Bond Act of 2025’’. 5
24	24	SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
25	25	Congress finds the following: 7
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29	29	(1) Potential exists for increasing clean and re-1
30	30	newable energy production and energy efficiency in-2
31	31	stallation in the United States. 3
32	32	(2) Other nations, including China and Ger-4
33	33	many, are ahead of the United States in manufac-5
34	34	turing and deploying various clean energy tech-6
35	35	nologies, even though many of these technologies 7
36	36	were invented in the United States. 8
37	37	(3) Climate change represents an existential 9
38	38	threat to the safety, security, and economy of the 10
39	39	United States. Rapid and robust deployment of 11
40	40	clean energy will reduce greenhouse gas emissions 12
41	41	and mitigate the effects of climate change on Amer-13
42	42	ican society. 14
43	43	(4) Many segments of the American public 15
44	44	want to take charge of efforts to combat the effects 16
45	45	of climate change and practice responsible consumer 17
46	46	behavior. 18
47	47	(5) The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renew-19
48	48	able Energy of the Department of Energy (referred 20
49	49	to in this section as the ‘‘EERE’’) estimates that 21
50	50	taxpayer investment of $12,000,000,000 into the 22
51	51	EERE research and development portfolio has al-23
52	52	ready yielded an estimated net economic benefit to 24
53	53	the United States of more than $230,000,000,000, 25
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57	57	with an overall annual return on investment of more 1
58	58	than 20 percent. 2
59	59	(6) Investments in renewable energy and energy 3
60	60	efficiency projects in the United States create green 4
61	61	jobs throughout the Nation. New and innovative jobs 5
62	62	could be created through expanded government sup-6
63	63	port for clean energy and energy efficiency. 7
64	64	(7) As Americans choose energy efficiency and 8
65	65	clean energy and transportation, it reduces our de-9
66	66	pendence on foreign oil and improves our energy se-10
67	67	curity. 11
68	68	(8) Bonds are a low-cost method for encour-12
69	69	aging clean energy, as they do not require direct 13
70	70	budget allocations or expenditures. The projects sup-14
71	71	ported through Clean Energy Victory Bonds will cre-15
72	72	ate jobs and business revenues that will increase 16
73	73	Federal tax revenues, while simultaneously reducing 17
74	74	nationwide health and environmental costs incurred 18
75	75	by the Federal Government. 19
76	76	(9) Bonds are voluntary measures that allow 20
77	77	Americans to contribute financially in whatever 21
78	78	amount is available to them. 22
79	79	(10) During World War II, over 80 percent of 23
80	80	American households purchased Victory Bonds to 24
81	81	support the war effort, raising over 25
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85	85	$185,000,000,000, or over $2,000,000,000,000 in 1
86	86	today’s dollars. 2
87	87	SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 3
88	88	For purposes of this Act: 4
89	89	(1) C
90	90	LEAN ENERGY PROJECT .—The term 5
91	91	‘‘clean energy project’’ means a technology that pro-6
92	92	vides— 7
93	93	(A) performance-based energy efficiency 8
94	94	improvements; or 9
95	95	(B) clean energy improvements, includ-10
96	96	ing— 11
97	97	(i) electricity generated from solar, 12
98	98	wind, geothermal, small-scale hydropower, 13
99	99	and hydrokinetic energy sources; 14
100	100	(ii) fuel cells using non-fossil fuel 15
101	101	sources; 16
102	102	(iii) advanced storage technologies; 17
103	103	and 18
104	104	(iv) electric vehicle infrastructure. 19
105	105	(2) S
106	106	ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 20
107	107	the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary’s del-21
108	108	egate. 22
109	109	SEC. 4. CLEAN ENERGY VICTORY BONDS. 23
110	110	(a) I
111	111	NGENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 24
112	112	date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in con-25
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115	115	•HR 2946 IH
116	116	sultation with the Secretary of Energy and the Secretary 1
117	117	of Defense, shall issue bonds to be known as ‘‘Clean En-2
118	118	ergy Victory Bonds’’, the proceeds from which shall be 3
119	119	used to carry out the purposes described in section 4
120	120	9512(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as added 5
121	121	by section 5). 6
122	122	(b) S
123	123	AVINGSBOND.—Any Clean Energy Victory 7
124	124	Bond issued under this section shall be issued by the Sec-8
125	125	retary— 9
126	126	(1) as a savings bond of series EE, or as ad-10
127	127	ministered by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service of 11
128	128	the Department of the Treasury, in a manner con-12
129	129	sistent with the provisions of section 3105 of title 13
130	130	31, United States Code; and 14
131	131	(2) in denominations of $25 and such other 15
132	132	amounts as are determined appropriate by the Sec-16
133	133	retary, and shall mature within such periods as de-17
134	134	termined by the Secretary. 18
135	135	(c) A
136	136	MOUNT OFCLEANENERGYVICTORYBONDS.— 19
137	137	The aggregate face amount of the Clean Energy Victory 20
138	138	Bonds issued annually under this section shall be not 21
139	139	greater than $50,000,000,000. 22
140	140	(d) I
141	141	NTEREST.—Clean Energy Victory Bonds shall 23
142	142	bear interest at the rate the Secretary sets for Savings 24
143	143	Bonds of Series EE and Series I, plus a rate of return 25
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147	147	determined by the Secretary which is based on the valu-1
148	148	ation of— 2
149	149	(1) savings achieved through reduced energy 3
150	150	spending by the Federal Government resulting from 4
151	151	clean energy projects funded from the proceeds of 5
152	152	such bonds; and 6
153	153	(2) interest collected on loans financed or guar-7
154	154	anteed from the proceeds of such bonds. 8
155	155	(e) F
156	156	ULLFAITH ANDCREDIT.—Payment of interest 9
157	157	and principal with respect to any Clean Energy Victory 10
158	158	Bond issued under this section shall be made from the 11
159	159	general fund of the Treasury of the United States and 12
160	160	shall be backed by the full faith and credit of the United 13
161	161	States. 14
162	162	(f) P
163	163	ROMOTION.— 15
164	164	(1) I
165	165	N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall take 16
166	166	such actions, independently and in conjunction with 17
167	167	financial institutions offering Clean Energy Victory 18
168	168	Bonds, to promote the purchase of Clean Energy 19
169	169	Victory Bonds, including campaigns describing the 20
170	170	financial and social benefits of purchasing Clean En-21
171	171	ergy Victory Bonds. 22
172	172	(2) P
173	173	ROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES .—For purposes 23
174	174	of paragraph (1), promotional activities may include 24
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178	178	advertisements, pamphlets, or other promotional ma-1
179	179	terials— 2
180	180	(A) in periodicals; 3
181	181	(B) on billboards and other outdoor 4
182	182	venues; 5
183	183	(C) on television; 6
184	184	(D) on radio; 7
185	185	(E) on the internet; 8
186	186	(F) within financial institutions; or 9
187	187	(G) any other venues or outlets the Sec-10
188	188	retary may identify. 11
189	189	SEC. 5. CLEAN ENERGY VICTORY BONDS TRUST FUND. 12
190	190	(a) I
191	191	NGENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 98 of the 13
192	192	Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at 14
193	193	the end the following new section: 15
194	194	‘‘SEC. 9512. CLEAN ENERGY VICTORY BONDS TRUST FUND. 16
195	195	‘‘(a) C
196	196	REATION OFTRUSTFUND.—There is estab-17
197	197	lished in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund 18
198	198	to be known as the ‘Clean Energy Victory Bonds Trust 19
199	199	Fund’, consisting of such amounts as may be apportioned 20
200	200	or credited to such Trust Fund as provided in this section 21
201	201	or section 9602(b). 22
202	202	‘‘(b) T
203	203	RANSFERS TOTRUSTFUND.—There are here-23
204	204	by appropriated to the Trust Fund— 24
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208	208	‘‘(1) amounts equivalent to revenue from the 1
209	209	issuance of Clean Energy Victory Bonds under sec-2
210	210	tion 4 of the Clean Energy Victory Bond Act of 3
211	211	2025, and 4
212	212	‘‘(2) any gifts or bequests made to the Trust 5
213	213	Fund which are accepted by the Secretary for the 6
214	214	benefit of such Fund or any activity financed 7
215	215	through such Fund. 8
216	216	‘‘(c) E
217	217	XPENDITURESFROMTRUSTFUND.—Amounts 9
218	218	in the Trust Fund shall be available, without further ap-10
219	219	propriation, to finance clean energy projects (as defined 11
220	220	in section 3 of the Clean Energy Victory Bond Act of 12
221	221	2025) at the Federal, State, and local level, which may 13
222	222	include— 14
223	223	‘‘(1) providing additional support to existing 15
224	224	Federal financing programs available to States for 16
225	225	energy efficiency upgrades and clean energy deploy-17
226	226	ment, 18
227	227	‘‘(2) providing funding for clean energy invest-19
228	228	ments by all Federal agencies, 20
229	229	‘‘(3) providing funding for electric grid en-21
230	230	hancements and connections that enable clean en-22
231	231	ergy deployment, 23
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235	235	‘‘(4) providing funding to renovate existing inef-1
236	236	ficient buildings or building new energy efficient 2
237	237	buildings, 3
238	238	‘‘(5) providing tax incentives and tax credits for 4
239	239	clean energy technologies, 5
240	240	‘‘(6) providing funding for new innovation re-6
241	241	search, including ARPA–E, public competitions simi-7
242	242	lar to those designed by the X Prize Foundation, 8
243	243	grants provided through the Office of Energy Effi-9
244	244	ciency and Renewable Energy of the Department of 10
245	245	Energy, or other mechanisms to fund revolutionary 11
246	246	clean energy technology, 12
247	247	‘‘(7) providing additional support to existing 13
248	248	Federal, State, and local grant programs that fi-14
249	249	nance clean energy projects, and 15
250	250	‘‘(8) providing funding for zero-emission vehicle 16
251	251	infrastructure and manufacturing. 17
252	252	‘‘(d) P
253	253	ROJECTPRIORITY.— 18
254	254	‘‘(1) I
255	255	N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ensure 19
256	256	that not less than 40 percent of the amounts ex-20
257	257	pended under subsection (c) in each year are ex-21
258	258	pended for clean energy projects which are located 22
259	259	in and reduce energy rates in disadvantaged and vul-23
260	260	nerable communities. 24
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264	264	‘‘(2) DISADVANTAGED AND VULNERABLE COM -1
265	265	MUNITIES.—For purposes of paragraph (1), the 2
266	266	term ‘disadvantaged and vulnerable communities’ 3
267	267	means communities— 4
268	268	‘‘(A) which bear disproportionate burdens 5
269	269	of negative public health effects, environmental 6
270	270	pollution, or impacts of climate change, 7
271	271	‘‘(B) have significant representation of 8
272	272	people of color, low-wealth individuals, or Tribal 9
273	273	and Indigenous members, or 10
274	274	‘‘(C) which have a high concentration of 11
275	275	low- and moderate-income households as com-12
276	276	pared to other communities, 13
277	277	as determined by the Secretary.’’. 14
278	278	(b) C
279	279	LERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of sections 15
280	280	for subchapter A of chapter 98 of such Code is amended 16
281	281	by adding at the end the following new item: 17
282	282	‘‘Sec. 9512. Clean Energy Victory Bonds Trust Fund.’’.
283	283	Æ
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