The opening FSC/ETI (corporate tax bill) conference meeting was today, led by House Ways & Means Chairman Bill Thomas. After opening statements, the Chairman distributed a discussion draft and charted a timeline where all amendments must be filed by 5:00 p.m. Thursday (tomorrow) … a list of these amendments will be available about noon on Friday … staff will work over the weekend on the initial chairman’s mark … and the next conference meeting will be on Monday, Oct. 4, when the first chairman’s mark will be presented and discussed. Sen. Bingaman, a conferee, had this to say about today’s opening meeting: “I am pleased that we have finally started the important work of crafting this vital tax bill. I hope that we can, on a bipartisan basis, include a strong package of energy tax incentives in the final conference report. This is a priority for me and, judging from today’s initial meeting of the conference, a number of other conferees on both sides of the aisle.”