April 19, 2011 - According to John Howard at Capitol Weekly, Democrat Warren Furutani has introduced a bill (AB 1326) that "would establish a 12.5 percent severance tax on oil and natural gas, and set up an entity called the California Higher Education Fund, which distributes the proceeds to the University of California, the California State University and community colleges. His bill was scheduled to have its first major policy hearing on Wednesday, but Furutani withdrew the bill to make technical changes, his staff said, and a new hearing was scheduled for May 3."
According to the article, "[other] huge oil states – Texas and Alaska, for example – have oil severance taxes. Alaska has a progressive, 25 percent oil severance tax, the largest in the country, and some two-dozen states have severance taxes on oil, gas or both."
A number of well-heeled donors have expressed their opinions on the bill. Two powerful unions, the California Faculty Association and the California Nurses Association, support the bill, while a number of organizations such as the California Independent Oil Marketers Association, the Western States Petroleum Association, the California Taxpayers Association, and the California Chamber of Commerce oppose the bill.
Of the 52 Democrats in the Assembly, 48 received more from supporting groups than opposing groups, from Jan. 1, 2009-Dec. 31, 2010. On the flip side, Assembly Republicans received more from opposing groups than supporting groups in the same period, with the two exceptions being Don Wagner, who received $2,450 in contributions from interest groups supporting the bill and $0 from interest groups opposing the bill, and Brian Jones, who received no contributions from either side. The bill's sponsor, Warren Furutani, has received $61,565 in contributions from interest groups supporting the bill, third most among all Assemblymembers, and no money from interest groups opposing the bill.
As a new tax, the bill will need a two-thirds majority vote to pass, meaning that the measure will need the support of at least two Republicans to clear a vote in front of the full Assembly. The bill is currently in the Higher Education Committee, which, with six Democrats and three Republicans, could adopt the measure on a party-line vote. Committee members are bolded on the list below.
Contributions to California Assemblymembers from Groups Supporting and Opposing AB 1326- Party Breakdown
| Party | Position | Total | Average |
| Democrat (52) | Support | $ 1,427,923 | $ 27,460 |
| Oppose | $ 136,146 | $ 2,618 | |
| Republican (27) | Support | $ 23,293 | $ 863 |
| Oppose | $ 274,599 | $ 10,170 |
Contributions to California Assemblymembers from Groups Supporting and Opposing AB 1326.
(Members of The Assembly Higher Education Committee are in bold)
Democrats | Support | Oppose | Republicans | Support | Oppose | |
| Richard Pan | $ 93,850 | $ - | Martin Garrick | $ 2,000 | $ 31,173 | |
| Das Williams | $ 77,113 | $ 100 | David Valadao | $ - | $ 28,800 | |
| Warren Furutani | $ 61,565 | $ - | Nathan Fletcher | $ 2,500 | $ 22,400 | |
| Sandre Swanson | $ 58,750 | $ - | Dan Logue | $ - | $ 20,775 | |
| John Perez | $ 57,950 | $ 4,500 | Jeff Gorell | $ 111 | $ 16,876 | |
| Marty Block | $ 54,950 | $ - | Cameron Smyth | $ 500 | $ 16,400 | |
| Holly Mitchell | $ 45,225 | $ 2,500 | Curt Hagman | $ 500 | $ 13,400 | |
| Michael Allen | $ 43,100 | $ - | Jim Silva | $ 750 | $ 12,450 | |
| Ricardo Lara | $ 40,750 | $ 1,500 | Jim Nielsen | $ 4,050 | $ 12,000 | |
| Tony Mendoza | $ 40,500 | $ 1,250 | Diane Harkey | $ - | $ 11,900 | |
| Bob Wieckowski | $ 40,100 | $ - | Connie Conway | $ 4,400 | $ 10,650 | |
| Anthony Portantino | $ 38,350 | $ 800 | Steve Knight | $ - | $ 9,500 | |
| Fiona Ma | $ 37,300 | $ 7,900 | Jeff Miller | $ - | $ 9,250 | |
| Luis Alejo | $ 36,012 | $ - | Paul Cook | $ 3,000 | $ 8,900 | |
| Mary Hayashi | $ 35,050 | $ 2,500 | Bill Berryhill | $ 2,000 | $ 7,000 | |
| Bonnie Lowenthal | $ 33,403 | $ 5,500 | Katcho Achadjian | $ - | $ 7,000 | |
| Betsy Butler | $ 30,825 | $ 7,800 | Shannon Grove | $ 125 | $ 7,000 | |
| Joan Buchanan | $ 28,000 | $ - | Brian Nestande | $ - | $ 6,750 | |
| Mike Eng | $ 27,760 | $ 1,950 | Linda Halderman | $ 550 | $ 4,625 | |
| Bob Blumenfield | $ 27,195 | $ - | Tim Donnelly | $ - | $ 4,000 | |
| Steven Bradford | $ 26,900 | $ - | Allan Mansoor | $ - | $ 3,750 | |
| Julia Brownley | $ 26,825 | $ - | Kristin Olsen | $ - | $ 3,500 | |
| Wesley Chesbro | $ 24,000 | $ 1,750 | Kevin Jeffries | $ - | $ 3,250 | |
| Mariko Yamada | $ 23,900 | $ - | Chris Norby | $ - | $ 1,750 | |
| Alyson Huber | $ 23,750 | $ 2,950 | Mike Morrell | $ 357 | $ 1,500 | |
| Mike Gatto | $ 23,250 | $ 1,000 | Don Wagner | $ 2,450 | $ - | |
| Rich Gordon | $ 22,900 | $ 300 | Brian Jones | $ - | $ - | |
| Jim Beall | $ 21,550 | $ - | ||||
| Tom Ammiano | $ 21,050 | $ - | ||||
| Bill Monning | $ 21,000 | $ 700 | ||||
| Nancy Skinner | $ 20,650 | $ 9,300 | ||||
| Roger Hernandez | $ 19,500 | $ 1,000 | ||||
| Henry Perea | $ 19,200 | $ 3,629 | ||||
| Manuel Perez | $ 19,100 | $ 9,550 | ||||
| Paul Fong | $ 18,150 | $ 1,000 | ||||
| Norma Torres | $ 18,100 | $ 1,000 | ||||
| Toni Atkins | $ 17,900 | $ 1,500 | ||||
| Roger Dickinson | $ 16,950 | $ 1,650 | ||||
| Ben Hueso | $ 16,300 | $ 3,542 | ||||
| Jared Huffman | $ 15,300 | $ 700 | ||||
| Susan Bonilla | $ 13,800 | $ 6,500 | ||||
| Felipe Fuentes | $ 12,800 | $22,550 | ||||
| Gilbert Cedillo | $ 11,900 | $ - | ||||
| Nora Campos | $ 11,700 | $ 250 | ||||
| Isadore Hall | $ 10,800 | $ 7,500 | ||||
| Jerry Hill | $ 9,400 | $ 1,450 | ||||
| Wilmer Amina Carter | $ 8,400 | $ - | ||||
| Cathleen Galgiani | $ 7,900 | $ 8,625 | ||||
| Mike Davis | $ 6,100 | $ 1,000 | ||||
| Mike Feuer | $ 5,100 | $ - | ||||
| Jose Solorio | $ 3,500 | $ 4,750 | ||||
| Charles Calderon | $ 2,500 | $ 7,650 | ||||
Methodology: Includes reported contributions to campaigns of Assemblymembers in office during the 2011-2012 California State Legislature, from interest groups invested in the bill according to MAPLight.org, January 1, 2009 – December 31, 2010. California campaign contributions data source: National Institute on Money in State Politics.
