Alaska funds its state government largely by taxing oil production. But last year, faced with dwindling production, the legislature narrowly passed tax cuts to lessen the burden on energy companies in hopes of encouraging more drilling and generating more tax revenue. One Alaska lawmaker said they looked to the Lower 48 for inspiration. “Because we [...]
Update: HB 3509 passed out of the state House Thursday, the final day for bills to be voted out. Earlier: The Texas House could vote today on a bill that would strip the Texas Comptroller’s office of its endangered species monitoring duties and send the job over to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Advocates [...]
Comptroller Susan Combs, Texas’ top accountant and tax official, doesn’t just deal with money: she’s also in charge of monitoring endangered species. It’s an odd coupling, money manager and critter caretaker, and a new piece of legislation could undo the two disparate duties. The Senate Natural Resources Committee discussed a bill, SB 468, at a meeting Tuesday [...]
The dunes sagebrush lizard is tiny, and brown, and hides in the dunes of East New Mexico and West Texas. And until recently, it seemed like it could threaten the drilling boom in the Permian basin as the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service considered adding the lizard to the endangered species list. But this week the [...]
Travis County District Judge John Dietz is reportedly “reconsidering” a recent decision that could cost the state of Texas billions in tax revenue. Ruling in favor of the drilling company Southwest Royalties a few weeks ago, Judge Dietz found that oil and gas equipment used for exploring and completing wells should not be subject to sales tax, because it qualifies for [...]
A new ruling this week from Travis County District Judge John Dietz this week could cost the state of Texas billions in tax revenue. Ruling in favor of the drilling company Southwest Royalties, the court found that oil and gas equipment used for exploring and completing wells should not be subject to sales tax because it [...]
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