May 17, 2011 - The Senate on Tuesday failed to meet the 60 vote threshold needed to move to consideration of S. 940 - Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act. The measure fell by a 52-48 margin. Five senators broke from party ranks: three Democrats voted against consideration, and two Republicans voted in favor of consideration. The measure was supported by Democratic/Liberal groups and Environmental policy groups; it was opposed by Major oil & gas producers, Chambers of commerce, and Fiscal & tax policy groups.
- Major (multinational) oil & gas producers gave 8.8 times as much to senators that voted NO as they gave to senators that voted YES
- Environmental policy groups gave 11 times as much to senators that voted YES as they gave to senators that voted NO
- Interest groups that supported this motion (Democratic/Liberal and Environmental policy) gave 20 times as much to senators that voted YES as they gave to senators that voted NO
- Interest groups that opposed this motion (Major (multinational) oil & gas producers, Chambers of commerce, and Fiscal & tax policy) gave 7.4 times as much to senators that voted NO as they gave to senators that voted YES
Includes reported contributions to congressional campaigns of senators in office on day of vote, from interest groups invested in the vote according to MapLight, January 1, 2005 – December 31, 2010. Contributions data source: OpenSecrets.org
