BATON ROUGE (AP) — Gov. John Bel Edwards is asking President Barack Obama to drop his attempt to take offshore drilling money away from the Gulf Coast.
In its proposed budget for 2017, the White House recommends repealing a 2006 provision that establishes a formula for sharing revenues from offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico with four Gulf states.
The vast majority of those revenues now go to the federal government. Louisiana is estimated to receive $176 million annually when the revenue-sharing formula begins next year. The White House called the payments "unnecessary."
In a letter sent Friday to Obama, Edwards said the budget proposal would strip Louisiana of the only consistent source of federal funds the state has for coastal restoration projects.
The White House budget faces stiff opposition in Congress.
