U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) released the following statements regarding the inclusion of a provision in the final version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that increases revenue sharing for Gulf states. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed out of the conference committee earlier today and is slated for consideration in the House and Senate next week.
“Louisiana will not have as much money as expected to rebuild its coastline,” said Dr. Cassidy. “This bill provides extra revenue sharing to rebuild that coastline, and protect our energy jobs and infrastructure.”
“The final version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is great for the American economy, but it also contains new revenue sharing language that is a huge win for Louisiana’s coastal restoration efforts! Our amendment provides an additional $300 million in revenue sharing for Gulf states, and Louisiana should receive at least $100 million of that funding to restore our coast and protect against future storms,” said Scalise. “This is a landmark victory for coastal restoration, and puts down an important marker for future increases for Louisiana’s revenue sharing. I enjoyed working on this with Senator Cassidy, and applaud him for his strong leadership and work to get this included in the Senate bill, and now we’ll work together to make sure this bill gets signed into law as soon as possible.”
By increasing the GOMESA revenue sharing cap, Louisiana could receive more than $100 million in new money for coastal restoration and hurricane protection.
Read what others are saying about this victory:
“Revenue sharing dollars are critical to restoring Louisiana’s vanishing coast. Increasing the offshore revenues that Louisiana and other Gulf states receive is important to making the long term investments we’ll need to restore our coast, keep our communities safe, and protect our unique culture and way of life. It was over a decade ago that Louisiana voters Constitutionally-dedicated our state’s GOMESA dollars to restoring and protecting our coast—the people in Louisiana know how important this effort is for our future. I commend Whip Scalise and Senator Cassidy for their continued work to increase investments in Louisiana’s future.”
— Simone Maloz, Executive Director of Restore or Retreat.
“The Morganza Action Coalition commends the Louisiana Congressional Delegation for advancing a provision to increase offshore oil and gas revenue sharing within the tax reform bill. Nearly a quarter of America’s oil and gas comes off Louisiana’s coast, and we host major refineries and port infrastructure that help move goods and products throughout the nation. However, for too long, Louisiana has not received its fair share of the revenues produced off our coast. By increasing the revenue that Louisiana receives from offshore energy development, Rep. Scalise and Senator Cassidy are helping ensure we have the additional resources needed to make investments in our hurricane protection projects to safeguard our communities and the assets and resources that are so important to our economy and the nation.”
— Jay Walker, President of Morganza Action Coalition
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