Decreased Oil Taxes | Video

Jennifer Joas | 1/31/2013

A bill to lower oil taxes in 2017 is getting heat from Democratic opponents. The Senate bill would decrease the oil extraction tax by two percent in 2017. It would also change the definition of stripper wells, requiring that every new oil well individually qualify for a tax exemption if it doesn`t produce much oil.

Democrats say, they agree the stripper well formula needs to be changed, but now is not the time to focus on lowering oil taxes, when there are still tremendous infrastructure needs out west.

"What happens 2017, and in the five, ten, fifteen, 20 years beyond then, and what are we giving up? And there is no way that any rational person could suggest that this is a revenue neutral bill," said Grand Forks Senator Connie Triplett (D).

Democrats say by cutting oil taxes, the state`s revenue will decrease by $595 million.

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