Jay Obernolte: “I am honored to rise in support of my bill, H.R. 359, the Cost-Share Accountability Act of 2025. I thank my colleague…”

“I am honored to rise in support of my bill, H.R. 359, the Cost-Share Accountability Act of 2025. I thank my colleague and my friend from Illinois, Congressman Bill Foster, for leading this bipartisan piece of legislation with me. Mr. Speaker, cutting-edge research and development and energy technology is often catalyzed through grants awarded by the Department of Energy. Normally those grants come with a cost-sharing requirement usually of around 50 percent. That is important because it makes sure that the entity that the grant is awarded to has some skin in the game, and it also ensures the taxpayers get the best value for their dollar when that grant is performed. However, the Department of Energy has the ability under Federal law to waive or reduce that grant amount. It has become clear in recent years that it is not transparent when the DOE uses that authority. It is hampering our ability as Members of Congress to provide the oversight necessary into the activities of the DOE. This bill will impose a quarterly reporting requirement on the Department of Energy during which they must report to Congress and the public occasions under which in the last 90 days they have utilized the ability to reduce or eliminate the cost-share requirement. This will provide us in Congress the information we need to do our job of oversight, and it will also make sure that the ability to reduce or eliminate the cost sharing is used appropriately and in appropriate circumstances.…”