Resolution

WHEREAS, any additional tax on energy companies will hurt energy exploration and will do nothing but increase the price of gasoline for American consumers.

WHEREAS, our experiment with a windfall profits tax on oil companies in the 1980s proved to be economically devastating.  Furthermore, the tax crippled the domestic oil industry and failed to raise even a fraction of the revenue forecasted.

WHEREAS, taking aim at profits sets forth an extremely dangerous precedent of targeting certain industries based on their level of success.

WHEREAS, the United States government already collects billions of dollars from energy companies in the form of corporate income taxes, off-shore royalties, severance taxes, property taxes, excise taxes and payroll taxes.

WHEREAS, recent work from the Tax Foundation has indicated that over the past 30 years, our domestic energy companies have paid nearly three times more in taxes than they have earned in profits.

WHEREAS, the proposed windfall profits tax will increase America’s dependency on foreign oil by imposing additional costs on capital, increasing the cost of domestic oil production.

WHEREAS, it is sound policy that taxes should be as broad-based as possible and no entity should be disproportionately burdened by taxes.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that [insert state] urges Congress to reject all proposals that impose a “windfall profits tax” or any other discriminatory tax on our country’s energy industry.