Weren't they able to get rid of the 'Helium subsidy'? I believe they did. See below:
"The question is not if we will close Amarillo, but when and how," said Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID). Sen. Craig chaired a Senate Energy Committee hearing on the sale of the federal helium stockpile at Amarillo, Texas on July 25, 1995. Two House bills and three Senate bills have been introduced to terminate the federal program for helium refining, marketing and transporting. The Administration's bill, S.898, introduced by Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-AK), chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, would shut down the helium program in three years.