K Street in Brief

SUN, UP OR DOWN?

The solar industry has been, ahem, hot in recent years. In 2007, solar power companies attracted $10 billion in investment, according to Sanjay Shrestha, managing director in the alternative energy division at Lazard Capital Markets .

Solar companies had a paltry market capitalization of $8.1 billion in 2005. By 2007 that had grown to around $70 billion, Shrestha said.

{mosads}Solar’s growth added 6,000 new jobs last year, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), a trade group.

As quickly as the industry has risen, it could fall again if Congress doesn’t extend a crucial investment tax credit. That was the message of investors and analysts like Shrestha whom the SEIA gathered together for a press call in advance of a vote on a bill introduced by Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and John Ensign (R-Nev.) to extend renewable energy tax breaks.

A 30 percent investment tax credit for commercial solar power would be extended eight more years under the bill. The bill was expected to be introduced as an amendment to the housing bill that is on the floor this week.

The score for the solar tax credit was expected to be around $700 million over 10 years. In total, the bill, which also provides breaks for wind and geothermal and other renewable sources of energy and energy efficiency programs, is expected to cost around $6 billion, although supporters were still waiting on an official score.

Jim Snyder

TRADING SCHIP

The Bush administration will have to offer much more than help for displaced workers to get Congress to approve a trade deal with Colombia, some trade lobbyists suggest.

Think SCHIP, too. Bush, who took the unprecedented step of trying to force Congress to vote on a trade pact under so-called “fast-track” rules, has already twice vetoed legislation that would expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. But House Democratic aides and K Street sources said that’s just the kind of high-profile bill the president will have to give ground on if he wants the Colombia trade pact to pass.

“There’s just no way TAA is going to be enough for guys in the House,” one Democratic lobbyist said, referring to trade adjustment authority, an effort to help laid-off workers find new jobs.

Another possible sweetener mentioned is more money earmarked for bridges, roads and other components of the transportation infrastructure. Such spending would provide more jobs to union workers, the lobby fighting the trade pact with Colombia the hardest.

A Democratic leadership aide discounted any tradeoff involving SCHIP, and a significant percentage of the Democratic Caucus is likely to be unmoved by any enticement. “The only thing that would sway me is for Colombia to actually step up to the plate and try to end the violence,” Rep. Phil Hare (D-Ill.) told The Hill.

The deal is extraordinarily sensitive to labor unions because of violence in Colombia against labor organizers.

Supporters view the trade deal as a way to support Colombia, a U.S. ally in a region where Venezuela strongman Hugo Chavez wields growing influence. It would also help American companies by lowering tariffs to the Colombian market, backers of the pact say.

Ian Swanson

APPLY NOW

April Fools’ Day was no joke for many high-tech companies. That was the first day companies were eligible to apply for H-1B visas, which allow college-educated foreign workers entry in the United States.

The number of visas available each year is capped at 65,000, but the industry is busy lobbying Congress to allow more workers in annually to meet critical hiring needs. Efforts on Capitol Hill include distributing “The H-1B Lottery” cards pictured here.

Last year, high-tech companies submitted more than 150,000 applications for the visas in the first two days the applications were accepted, more than double the number of applications available.

In addition to the 65,000 H-1B visas, 20,000 foreign workers with advanced degrees from American universities are also allowed in. But the total still doesn’t meet tech’s needs, according to companies like Google. The giant search engine noted in its public policy blog last week that 70 of its applications were rejected in 2006.

Nearly 250 applications were accepted, the blog noted. Nevertheless, Google and other tech companies are backing bills introduced by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) that would significantly raise the cap. (Hers would double it; his would triple the number.)

It likely will be another month before Google and other companies know how many of their H-1B applications were accepted. Tech companies argue that visas help fill worker shortages that otherwise are a drag on competitiveness.

“There is a very strong and pressing need to address the economic aspects of immigration policies,” said Robert Hoffman, a lobbyist for Oracle and co-chairman of Compete America , a business group lobbying for a high H-1B cap.

But critics contend that what tech companies are really after is a cheaper workforce.

Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the majority whip, and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member on the Finance Committee, sent a letter on April 1 asking a series of pointed questions to the top corporate H-1B visa recipients.

“The H-1B program can’t be allowed to become a job killer in America,” Durbin said.

J.S.

NETWORK INTEGRATION

The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) and the Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA), an international public policy advocacy group specializing in issues relating to the privacy, reliability and integrity of information systems, announced Tuesday that they are joining forces.

ITAA President and CEO Phil Bond said subsuming CSIA programs and personnel will expand ITAA’s reach. CSIA has an office in Brussels, Belgium, the home of the European Union.

Total membership at ITAA now stands at 350 companies.

J.S.