©2025 League of Conservation Voters
1979 Scorecard Vote
237
182
15
Issues
HR 3919. The vote is on the substitute amendment by Reps. Jones and Moore to reduce the windfall profits tax from 70% to 60% and to end the tax completely by December 1990. The windfall profits tax was intended to prevent the oil companies from keeping all the extra money paid to them by consumers once price controls were removed. The oil companies strongly supported this amendment to weaken the tax, claiming that they needed higher profits to give them an incentive to find more oil and other energy sources. Environmentalists favored a very stiff windfall profits tax, 70% or higher, so that the revenues created by the higher prices could be used to promote mass transit and energy conservation as well as energy development, and to rebate some of the money to poor consumers. Nor did environmentalists think the oil companies would reinvest their windfall money in a desirable manner (see next vote also). Therefore they opposed the amendment, as did the Carter Administration. Adopted 236-183. June 28, 1979. No is the correct vote.
©2025 League of Conservation Voters