Reduce Trona Royalties, Fuel Wyoming's Economy
by U.S. Representative Barbara Cubin
For anyone looking for a job, Wyoming is an awfully good place to be right now.
Just last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released their monthly report of national unemployment statistics. Wyoming definitely had something to cheer about.
Boasting an unemployment rate of only 3.3%, Wyoming is well ahead of the nation's 4.4% jobless rate. The 9,000 new jobs the state has added this year puts Wyoming in the top 10 states in the nation in that category.
These encouraging employment figures aren't coincidental. They are a product of Wyoming's business-friendly policies, Republican-led tax cuts, and communities dedicated to creating an economy that will create jobs for our children and grandchildren.
As a fifth-generation Wyomingite, there is nothing I want more than to see my own sons raise their families in the Cowboy State. That desire is a large part of what motivates me to work to enact policies out in Washington that will fuel the development of Wyoming's economy.
Earlier this month, Republicans in the U.S. House pushed through legislation to permanently exempt up to $5 million of an individual's estate from penalty under the estate tax. I cannot think of a more unfair, unjust fiscal policy than the "death tax."
Farmers, ranchers, and small business owners pay taxes on their assets all throughout their lifetimes, and then pay taxes on them again at the time of death. The tax code shouldn't penalize hard working Americans for trying to create jobs or hand their business down to their children. I have consistently supported efforts to permanently eliminate this absurd tax policy, and I hope this time the U.S. Senate will see fit to do the same.
I'd be doing a disservice to my home state if I didn't commit myself to promoting energy development in Wyoming.
This mindset is precisely what motivates me to continue to fight for a legislative measure to push trona royalty relief. Earlier this week, the U.S. House passed legislation that will cut the federal taxes levied on trona production by two-thirds, from 6% to 2% to help lower costs to trona producers.
This bill is about jobs for Wyoming. Cutting the royalty rate will pump up the soda ash industry and allow them to focus on increased export growth. This will mean more jobs in Wyoming and more money in the state's economy.
I don't need to tell anyone in Southwest Wyoming how beneficial a trona royalty reduction could be. But I will keep telling people in Washington. This is the fourth time in three years I have successfully won passage of this measure in the House. Each time it has gotten log jammed in the Senate and died.
That's as unacceptable as the idea of our children being forced to leave Wyoming. I'll keep working to push for business development, and I welcome any input you might have. My phone lines are always open and I invite you to contact my staff and I at any time.
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/speech/wy00_cubin/Trona.html