Trump wants to stop sharing Gulf of Mexico oil royalties with Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas
Tom DiChristopher | @tdichristopher
Four U.S. states on the Gulf of Mexico stand to lose billions in future payments if a proposal in the president's new budget survives congressional scrutiny.
The White House on Tuesday proposed ending a program that shares revenue from offshore oil and gas drilling with the states — and it does so just as those payments were scheduled to expand significantly.
Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas — all of which went for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election — are trying to close their own budget gaps amid a protracted oil price downturn and as the new White House budget asks them to absorb cuts to social welfare programs.
"The GOMESA program is critical to coastal states, who assume the environmental and economic risks and provide a majority of the infrastructure and workforce for the offshore oil and gas industry"
-Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Ala.
The plan is part of the president's effort to contain the growth of the U.S. federal deficit. The Office of Management and Budget estimates that ending the royalty-sharing program would save the federal government $3.6 billion over a decade.
The program is part of the 2006 Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, or GOMESA, which was designed to encourage offshore drilling by giving states a cut when Washington leases federal water to energy companies for exploration.
Read more: http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/24/trump...th-states.html
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