Oil tax for higher ed?
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| Back in the day at Huntington Beach |
A debate that’s been raging now for several years in California is headed to the Legislature, as two Democratic lawmakers introduce legislation to impose an oil extraction tax, with the proceeds earmarked for higher education and state parks. SB 241 by state Sen. Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, and state Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, brings front and center a long simmering discussion about whether California should impose a tax on oil production similar to other states. “California is the largest — and only — oil producing state in the nation that does not tax its vast oil resources,” said Evans in a written statement. The proposal, a 9.9 percent tax on oil drilled both on land and off the California coast, could generate some $2 billion a year in new state revenue (depending, of course, on the price of a barrel of oil and on in-state oil production). SB 241 says the money would be earmarked for all three branches of higher education — the University of California, the California State University, and community colleges — as well as state parks. Most of the money (93 percent, according to the legislative authors) would go to higher ed…
Full story at http://www.news10.net/capitol/article/230007/525/State-lawmakers-propose-new-oil-drilling-tax
(The article goes on to note that despite the fact that the Democrats have a 2/3 majority, not all might vote for a tax. It also notes that the governor is on record as opposing new taxes absent a vote of the people.)
(At this point, the actual text of the bill does not appear to be online.)