When the State Senate approved SB 1577 this week, only two Senators voted against cutting the tax credit for the state’s at-risk oil wells. One of them was Sen. Ralph Shortey of Oklahoma City who led the debate against putting a $12.5 million cap on the credits that were expected to swell to $25 million this year because of the downturn in oil prices.
He turned the debate against the wind industry and its tax credits.
“The investment the state has put into that industry is not returning what it could,” said the Senator during debate on the Senate floor. “It is not supporting jobs. There are very few jobs going into that. It is not supporting people.”
The Oklahoma City Republican argued the wind industry has done little to produce support for the state and does not produce anything in the way of income tax because of its credits. He said it does not produce sales tax because of the credits.
“Only last year, they started paying ad valorem tax. Those things aren’t even created in the state. They’re built in Texas and shipped into the state. They don’t buy their trucks here. They don’t buy their equipment here,” charged the Senator.
It was Shortey’s contention that the importance of the tax credit was more than producing the well but also of keeping it alive so that service companies could service it and employees could monitor it so that economic development happens.
“Here we go. We have this whole other industry that is taking nothing. Everybody has given in this year. Everybody has done something to make Oklahoma better. My question is, what are those guys willing to do?”
Listen to his closing arguments.
