Editor’s note: Later posts in this series revise the loophole’s size to $59 million, according to newly available 2014 data from the WA OFM. The $41 million noted below is based on earlier calculations.
Big Oil companies in Washington get $41 million from an accidental tax loophole that was never designed to benefit them. It’s enough to make the tangible investments in public education that our teachers and students so desperately need.
To learn more about it, check out this 2 minute video graphic:
Don’t have 2 minutes? This graphic says it all:
There is some good news though. It’s entirely possible to end Big Oil’s taxpayer subsidy and redirect that money to kids. Go here to find out how.
Big thanks to designer Don Baker who produced these graphics.
People fail to see tax subsidies as a tax payer cost. Thank you for illustrating what is lost when we fail to sunset subsidies that are outdated or not creating results that support our policies and priorities. There is a lot of work to do convincing our legislature to do the work necessary to balance our state budget in ways that make sense. This should help!
Ok!
Here’s the deal. We close the loophole.
Big Oil will want something in return. They do that.
What Big Oil will ask for will be to export crude instead of finished product value added refined products. The largest US export for the last few years has been refined petrolium products.
We must not let the Big Oil “Flag Out” our value added exports.
No qid pro quo for closing the loopholes.
And said funding will go to early childhood education and infant nutrition programs…not the general fund.
Great research & graphic, but the connection implied that schools are being deprived is not quite accurate, is it? Without a specific designation, as Harve notes, it would go into the general fund, & who knows where it would go from there–maybe more outrageous subsidies to Boeing. Please provide “action info” to prevent that from happening. Does the bill need to be modified/or a companion bill written?