Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HCR183 Compare Versions

The same version is selected twice. Please select two different versions to compare.

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	H.C.R. No. 183
2	2
3	3
4	4	HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
5	5	WHEREAS, The oil and natural gas exploration industry has
6	6	been a significant part of the state's economy since the early 20th
7	7	century; today, Texas is the leading producing state for oil and
8	8	natural gas in the country, accounting for 21.3 percent and 27.8
9	9	percent of total U.S. production, respectively; and
10	10	WHEREAS, Texas producers provide more than 200,000 jobs for
11	11	Texas citizens, with an average pay that is almost three times
12	12	higher than the average paid by all other industries; during fiscal
13	13	year 2008, Texas producers paid over $5 billion in taxes and fees to
14	14	the state's general revenue fund; and
15	15	WHEREAS, Natural gas is a highly valued, clean fuel that has
16	16	become a mainstay of electricity production and other industrial
17	17	operations in Texas, while oil continues to constitute the backbone
18	18	of the state's industrial sector and fuels virtually all of the
19	19	state's transportation system; and
20	20	WHEREAS, Renewable energy sources offer great promise for
21	21	Texas' long-term energy needs, but the technology that would make
22	22	these sources abundant is in its infancy, and until that technology
23	23	is adequately developed, renewable energy sources will remain
24	24	dispersed and unable to deliver base load capacity; and
25	25	WHEREAS, Conservation can help satisfy the state's energy
26	26	needs, and action to reduce customer demand is the quickest way to
27	27	meet energy needs in the short term, but a growing economy and
28	28	population will require more energy than can be saved through more
29	29	efficient energy use; and
30	30	WHEREAS, To keep pace with increased demand, independent
31	31	producers completed more than 11,000 wells in Texas in 2008, and in
32	32	the two-year period 2007-2008, they increased the production of
33	33	natural gas in Texas by more than 12 percent; and
34	34	WHEREAS, In addition to generating high-quality jobs,
35	35	independent producers help to reduce America's dependence on Middle
36	36	East oil by exploring for domestic resources and providing stable
37	37	supplies of cost-effective energy to consumers; and
38	38	WHEREAS, Independent producers rely on longstanding tax
39	39	provisions to plan their activities and to explore for new wells to
40	40	offset declining production from older ones; without the
41	41	development of new wells, energy supplies would decline and the
42	42	costs to consumers would rise; and
43	43	WHEREAS, President Barack Obama's initial budget includes
44	44	provisions deleting the intangible drilling costs deduction,
45	45	percentage depletion allowance, geologic and geophysical costs
46	46	deduction, and domestic production activities deduction, and the
47	47	elimination of these provisions would cripple this state's energy
48	48	jobs, reduce small businesses' access to capital, and harm royalty
49	49	owners; and
50	50	WHEREAS, Intangible drilling costs (IDCs) typically include
51	51	expenditures for physical items with no salvage value, as well as
52	52	other costs associated with preparing and completing a well for the
53	53	production of oil, gas, or geothermal steam or water; producers
54	54	have long been able to deduct IDCs as current business expenses,
55	55	rather than depreciate or amortize them over the life of the well;
56	56	IDCs are actually similar to research and development costs, for
57	57	which most manufacturing businesses are able to take a tax credit,
58	58	rather than a deduction; and
59	59	WHEREAS, The percentage depletion allowance, also known as
60	60	the small producers exemption, was created in the 1920s to
61	61	encourage oil and natural gas exploration, which is an inherently
62	62	high-risk venture; the exemption is available only to the smallest
63	63	producers and allows them to deduct 15 percent of their gross income
64	64	from oil and gas properties; and
65	65	WHEREAS, Geologic and geophysical (G&G) costs relate to the
66	66	surveys that producers conduct or commission in order to locate and
67	67	develop oil and natural gas reserves and to minimize unnecessary
68	68	drilling; G&G costs may be amortized over the first 24 months of the
69	69	life of a well; and
70	70	WHEREAS, The domestic production activities provision allows
71	71	businesses a tax deduction for qualified production activities that
72	72	are based in the United States; the deduction helps to preserve
73	73	American jobs and American small businesses; and
74	74	WHEREAS, Major integrated companies are not eligible for the
75	75	IDC deduction, percentage depletion allowance, or domestic
76	76	production activities deduction, and they are subject to a
77	77	seven-year amortization schedule for G&G work; consequently, "big
78	78	oil" is not impacted by the proposed budget changes; and
79	79	WHEREAS, President Obama has stated his intention to support
80	80	the development of jobs, promote the use of clean-burning energy,
81	81	and reduce America's dependence on foreign oil, yet his budget
82	82	proposals would lessen the ability of independent producers to help
83	83	meet those three goals; now, therefore, be it
84	84	RESOLVED, That the 81st Legislature of the State of Texas
85	85	hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to reject the
86	86	provisions of President Barack Obama's budget that would eliminate
87	87	the intangible drilling costs deduction, percentage depletion
88	88	allowance, geologic and geophysical costs deduction, and domestic
89	89	production activities deduction and to encourage instead the
90	90	development of Texas oil and natural gas; and, be it further
91	91	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
92	92	copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
93	93	the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the
94	94	senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the
95	95	Texas delegation to Congress with the request that this resolution
96	96	be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to
97	97	the Congress of the United States of America.
98	98	Farabee
99	99	Davis of Harris
100	100	Hardcastle
101	101	Gonzalez Toureilles
102	102	Rios Ybarra
103	103	Riddle
104	104	______________________________ ______________________________
105	105	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
106	106	I certify that H.C.R. No. 183 was adopted by the House on May
107	107	30, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 134, Nays 5, 1 present, not
108	108	voting.
109	109	______________________________
110	110	Chief Clerk of the House
111	111	I certify that H.C.R. No. 183 was adopted by the Senate on
112	112	June 1, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
113	113	______________________________
114	114	Secretary of the Senate
115	115	APPROVED: __________________
116	116	Date
117	117	__________________
118	118	Governor