Oil Money for All Texans?
By: Mycah Glover
Updated: September 22, 2011
Yesterday, Big 2 News told you that Alaska is giving nearly all of it's residents $1,100 as part of it's annual dividend payout from the state's Oil Wealth Fund. And with all of the oil in Texas, this got us thinking, could Texas residents benefit from a similar program?
We had a chance to speak with Senator Kel Seliger about this during today's town hall meeting. When we asked if they've ever considered doing anything like this, he said, "No, because the oil and gas industry is already taxed to an extreme amount when you talk about severance tax and you talk about money coming out of the stabilization fund. I think we're milking the oil and gas industry all that we ought to, and it's all for the benefit of the citizens in the state of Texas."
Although an annual dividend payout like they have in Alaska may never be a possibility for the lone star state, one thing we have to take into consideration is the amount of jobs and revenue the oil and gas business already brings to our local economy and to the state of Texas.
We had a chance to speak with Senator Kel Seliger about this during today's town hall meeting. When we asked if they've ever considered doing anything like this, he said, "No, because the oil and gas industry is already taxed to an extreme amount when you talk about severance tax and you talk about money coming out of the stabilization fund. I think we're milking the oil and gas industry all that we ought to, and it's all for the benefit of the citizens in the state of Texas."
Although an annual dividend payout like they have in Alaska may never be a possibility for the lone star state, one thing we have to take into consideration is the amount of jobs and revenue the oil and gas business already brings to our local economy and to the state of Texas.
