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No funds for nuke program in bill; Ohio jobs affected

Congress’ decision could stall thousands of jobs at southern Ohio plant.

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By Jack Torry and  Jessica Wehrman, Washington Bureau Updated 11:53 AM Friday, December 16, 2011

WASHINGTON — A House Republican spending bill failed to provide any money for a proposed uranium enrichment plant in Piketon, dealing a major blow to a Maryland company’s plans to build a new facility in southern Ohio that could create thousands of construction jobs.

Although it is possible the $150 million for research and development of the American Centrifuge Plant could be restored today, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, a project supporter, described the project’s future as “tenuous.”

Paul Jacobson, a spokesman for USEC of Maryland, expressed hope that the money may eventually be folded into the bill. But Jacobson warned that “we can’t go on indefinitely. At some point we have to make decisions,” a veiled reference to laying off workers at the plant.

“Right now it’s very much a changing by the minute situation,” he said. “We continue to operate the plant on a day-to-day basis as we work on funding.’’

The House bill, unveiled Thursday and which includes nearly $1 trillion in spending, would finance the government through the end of 2012. Unless Congress approves the spending measure today, the federal government could be in danger of closing.

The failure to include the money sparked a political firestorm as Republicans blamed President Barack Obama while Democrats pointed fingers at House Speaker John Boehner, R-West Chester Twp.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said that Senate negotiators had offered their House counterparts the chance to fold the $150 million into the final version of the spending measure. He said that both he and Portman had backed the offer.

“All we needed was the House to say yes or to make a counter offer and they never made a counter offer of substance,’’ Brown said. “We just figured with a speaker of the House from our state ... it would be a lot easier than that. And it was met with resistance.’’

But House Republicans apparently concluded that the money would violate their rules on earmarks — a heavily criticized maneuver that allows lawmakers to insert money into spending bills for their pet projects in their states.

Instead, GOP lawmakers pointed out that after promising to finance construction of the plant during his 2008 presidential campaign, Obama and the U.S. Department of Energy refused to approve a $2 billion loan guarantee that USEC said was crucial for the project to go forward.

The Energy Department said in October it would back $150 million for research to keep the project alive. But the department insisted that Congress would have to approve the money.

Brittany Bramell, a Boehner spokeswoman, said that Boehner “made a commitment when he was elected speaker that he would not use his position to direct his committee chairmen to airdrop earmarks or earmark-like provisions into spending bills, and he feels bound by that pledge – just as President Obama should feel bound by the pledge he made three years ago to the Piketon community.’’

Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Loveland, said “the outcome would have been different if President Obama had helped us on this. It’s a shame that the president continues to refuse to keep his promise to the people of Southern Ohio that he would support this project.’’

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