A few weeks ago, the General Assembly passed a bill that directs 70 percent of future oil or gas drilling royalties to state road improvements.
That was the easy part.
In order to actually receive any money, Congress would still need to pass a bill allowing Virginia to receive royalties. It's an uphill battle. Many members of Congress representing interior states oppose royalties for coastal states.
U.S. Sen. Jim Webb (D) expects to introduce a royalty bill later this year, according to his staff, but they did not yet have details on the proposal. Senators working on a massive federal energy bill are also considering royalties of 25 percent for coastal states, according to recent reports. And last week, U.S. Rep. Robert W. Goodlatte (R-Va.) introduced a bill known as the Virginia Access to Energy Act that would allow drilling offshore with proceeds being split equally between Richmond and Washington.
Read the full blog post here.
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