Senate File 0084 on Monday passed out of the Senate Minerals Committee by a 4 to 1 vote. According to a release issued by State Senator for District 2 Brian Boner, the bill aims to keep Wyoming fossil fuel producers working in the State and comes as reports have surfaced that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is considering raising the oil and gas royalty tax rate from the current 12.5 percent to over 18 percent on minerals extracted on federal lands.
In Wyoming, the State receives almost half of the federal mineral royalty tax; therefore, an increase in the tax eventually increases the state’s dependency on the mineral industry for tax revenue. In the proposed bill draft, this would change. The draft language directs the State Treasurer’s Office to issue a check to each producer that would be “equal to” the state’s share of the federal royalty rate increase as of July 1, 2023. The bill now moves to the Senate floor for debate.
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Last modified: February 22, 2022