To: The Washington State House and The Washington State Senate
$59 million to help our schools, not Big Oil!
I urge you to invest in our children’s education and not the Big Oil industry by closing the Big Oil Tax Loophole.
In 1949, Washington created a tax exemption in which timber industry sawmills received an “extracted fuel” tax exemption for using milling lumber to power their plants. Since then, oil companies have been leaching off of that loophole to run subsidized refineries by not paying taxes to Washington State.
Oil companies should be paying to clean up their pollution, not profiting from state tax loophole breaks. This accidental and nonsensical loophole was never intended for Big Oil and that’s not where I want my taxpayer dollars to go -- especially when the oil companies have $100 billion in profits a year while we’re scrambling to fund community priorities like education and the environment. Yet this hidden handout means Big Oil avoids paying $59 million of their fair share of taxes.
I encourage you to support HB 2796 and invest in our kids’ education. It couldn't be a simpler choice.
In 1949, Washington created a tax exemption in which timber industry sawmills received an “extracted fuel” tax exemption for using milling lumber to power their plants. Since then, oil companies have been leaching off of that loophole to run subsidized refineries by not paying taxes to Washington State.
Oil companies should be paying to clean up their pollution, not profiting from state tax loophole breaks. This accidental and nonsensical loophole was never intended for Big Oil and that’s not where I want my taxpayer dollars to go -- especially when the oil companies have $100 billion in profits a year while we’re scrambling to fund community priorities like education and the environment. Yet this hidden handout means Big Oil avoids paying $59 million of their fair share of taxes.
I encourage you to support HB 2796 and invest in our kids’ education. It couldn't be a simpler choice.
Why is this important?
For years Big Oil has been exploiting an outdated tax loophole, called the extracted fuel exemption, that subsidizes oil refineries at the cost of millions of dollars to our state. But our legislators have a choice before them this legislative session: continue to give in to Big Oil or invest in our kids’ education and future.