WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., the chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, called on Congress to build upon the success of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA) – a law she enacted in 2006 – by expanding revenue sharing partnerships to all coastal states that produce energy off their shores during a Committee hearing on how to leverage America’s natural resources to generate revenue and create jobs.

“GOMESA was the first law of its kind to establish and expand revenue sharing to the four energy producing Gulf Coast states: Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas,” Sen. Landrieu said. “These states now share 37.5 percent of the revenues they produce offshore, and GOMESA has already generated $30 million for the Gulf Coast states. In 2017, it will provide hundreds of millions more.”

Sen. Landrieu argued that GOMESA provided a strong foundation, and the FAIR Act – a bill she co-sponsored with Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska – is the best, comprehensive solution before the Committee to build on GOMESA and extend the same revenue sharing partnership to all coastal states that inland states currently enjoy.

“GOMESA provides a strong foundation to establish full revenue sharing for all coastal states. Our next step is to lift the collective and arbitrary $500-million cap placed on Gulf Coast states, accelerate the date of revenue sharing payments to now, and expand revenue sharing to all coastal states that produce energy off their shores,” Sen. Landrieu said. “The FAIR Act is a robust and comprehensive solution that would achieve all three of these objectives. All coastal communities deserve to be treated fairly and to receive their fair share of the revenues they help produce offshore immediately, not ten years from now.”

Charlotte Randolph, the President of Lafourche Parish, La., told senators in her testimony that revenue sharing would help state and local governments invest in the infrastructure necessary to support increased energy production and create thousands of high-paying jobs.

“Domestic energy production is a major component of the economy in Lafourche Parish. It directly, and indirectly, generates tens of thousands of jobs which in turn generate millions of dollars to our local community and state,” Parish President
Randolph said. “In natural resources counties like Lafourche Parish, we build and maintain the roads, bridges and ports that enable people to access the natural resources. Revenue sharing enables counties to keep these facilities in good repair and the economy moving.”

NO ONE HAS DONE MORE TO SECURE FUNDING TO RESTORE AND SAVE THE GULF COAST THAN SEN. LANDRIEU

• In 2006, Sen. Landrieu passed the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA) that established a permanent stream of revenue sharing for the energy producing in the Gulf of Mexico, returning 37.5 percent of the revenues they generate offshore. Already, Gulf Coast states have received $30 million because of this law to fund projects, and, in 2017, at least $500 million will go to the four Gulf Coast States and the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

• In 2005, Sen. Landrieu created the Coastal Impact Assistance Program, which has created $500 million for Louisiana’s coastal restoration projects. 

• In 2012, Congress passed Sen. Landrieu’s bipartisan RESTORE Act that directs 80 percent of the BP oil spill fines back to the Gulf Coast States for environmental and economic restoration. Louisiana will receive billions under the RESTORE Act.