Oklahoma U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe was one of those who joined Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn this week in filing a bill to provide relief to the nation’s energy industry.
He supported the SAVE Jobs Act, stating, “Right now, oil and gas is hurting in Oklahoma and, in a state where one in five jobs is tied to the energy industry, we need to be there for our producers. “I’m proud to cosponsor this bill that will give energy companies the flexibility they need to make sure their employees get paid and their lights stay on. Our domestic production capacity is key to maintaining our energy dominance.”
Sen. Cornyn was also supported by U.S. Sens. James Lankford, John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Ala.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).
The SAVE Jobs ACT:
- Allows more carbon capture projects to break ground by extending the commence construction window for the 45Q tax credit by one-year.
- Allows energy companies to build liquidity by:
- suspending certain capitalization rules, allowing taxpayers to immediately expense certain direct and indirect costs, such as inventory, that would otherwise be required to be capitalized in 2020.
- reducing the required deposit of certain motor fuel excise taxes paid every two weeks by taxpayers from 95% to 25%, without reducing the total tax liability these companies owe the government.
- allowing taxpayers to expense 100% of the cost of intangible drilling costs in 2020.
- Provides immediate relief to those with leases on federal lands and waters by:
- Streamlining existing authority to grant lease extensions, suspensions of production, and suspensions of operations during the pandemic.
- Simplifying the existing process for royalty rate reductions to provide more timely relief during the pandemic.
- Delaying the deadline for recalculation of royalty payments under the 2016 ONRR Valuation Rule until July 1, 2022.
Source: Sen. Jim Inhofe