Hands Off The Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund

Press Release

In response to reports that Democratic tax-writers are considering using revenue for the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to "grease the wheels" for unrelated spending, Louisiana Congressman Bill Cassidy introduced a House Resolution insisting that, "Congress should not exploit the misfortune of Gulf Coast families, businesses, and communities to fund unrelated policies and programs."

"Revenue for the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund is revenue for the Oil Spill Liability Trust fund," said Cassidy. "Period."

"I understand that energy producers are a convenient political target right now, but it is entirely inappropriate to balance the books with funds that should be dedicated to helping Gulf Coast families and businesses affected by the spill."

"If Senate Democrats find it hard to locate offsets for their spending, it is a problem of their own making. And it is not a problem that they can mix with the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund."

Created in the wake of the Exxon Valdez spill, the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund was established to cover the cost of cleaning up and compensating victims of future spills through an eight-cents-per-barrel excise tax.

According to, Congressional Quarterly, "Democratic tax writers are considering a plan to as much as quadruple the size of an industrywide excise tax on oil production as they try to finalize a package of tax cut and economic aid extensions, a Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee said Thursday. Targeting oil companies for tax revenue in the aftermath of the Gulf Coast oil spill would help Democrats pay for the costs of the tax "extenders' and spending bill (HR 4213)."

Similarly, in "Dems Aim to Grease Wheels with Oil," POLITICO reported that, "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) wants to take the package to the Rules Committee as early as next Tuesday. Driving this schedule is the fact that a host of social safety net provisions are scheduled to expire in June. These include jobless and health insurance assistance for the long-term unemployed and, if no action is taken, a 21 percent cut in Medicare payments to physicians will go into effect. For all this activity, no real budget is in the offing, and Democrats can resemble the parishioner who has skipped church but promises to keep God and gospel in mind."

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