To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (6370 ) 4/2/2002 3:45:32 PM From: TigerPaw Read Replies (1) | Respond to It would appear that the measure was added to an appropriations bill.. She beat a Democratic filibuster and inserted in a September 1999 appropriation a ban on Clinton administration plans to increase oil and gas royalties on federal land. In June 2000 she called for a "summer vacation" for the federal gas tax. nationaljournal.qpass.com Polluter Pork/Protect Taxpayers and Stop Underpayment Of Oil Royalties: Companies that drill for oil on public lands are required to pay royalties, which benefit taxpayers, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and state governments, many of which use the royalties for public education. However, according to the Minerals Management Service (MMS), the largest oil companies have been underpaying these royalties by at least $66 million a year. To address this underpayment, the MMS formulated new rules to create fair, market-based oil payments, but three "riders" on three different spending bills blocked the final passage of these rules. During consideration of the fiscal year 2000 Interior Appropriations bill, Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and Pete Domenici (R-NM) offered yet anothe rider to delay the MMS rules. (The MMS rules were finalized on March 15, 2000, but the oil industry is now suing the MMS to prevent the rules from being enforced.) On September 23, 1999, the Senate adopted the Hutchison oil royalty rider, 51-47. ipaa.org
