[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 16 (Tuesday, February 15, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E245]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCTION OF BILL TO PROVIDE PERMANENT FUNDING FOR THE PAYMENT IN 
                      LIEU OF TAXES (PILT) PROGRAM

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                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 15, 2005

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, together with my Colorado 
colleague, Representative John Salazar, I am introducing legislation to 
provide permanent funding for two programs that are very important to 
counties and other local units of government in Colorado and many other 
States.
  Our bill is identical to one introduced in the 108th Congress by 
Scott McInnis when he represented Colorado's 3rd Congressional 
District. He was a leader on this issue, and we are joining to work to 
complete this job that he began.
  Under the bill, the full amounts authorized under both the payments 
in lieu of taxes (PILT) program and the refuge revenue sharing program 
would be made available to the Secretary of the Interior annually, for 
distribution to eligible local governments in accordance with those 
programs.
  This would eliminate the requirement for annual appropriations for 
PILT and refuge revenue sharing purposes and would shield them against 
the kind of political shortsightedness demonstrated in the budget 
recently submitted by President Bush, which proposes to inflict a 
severe cut in the funding available for PILT.
  While both programs are significant, PILT is particularly important 
for counties in Colorado and other states that include large expanses 
of federal lands. In 2004, for example, counties in Colorado received 
more than $17.6 million out of a total of $244.3 million distributed 
nationwide.
  Congress created the PILT program in response to a recommendation of 
the Public Land Law Review Commission, chaired by Representative Wayne 
N. Aspinall, who represented what was then Colorado's Fourth 
Congressional District. It reflected a recognition that a system of 
payments based on acreage was more equitable and reliable than one tied 
to management decisions such as timber harvests or other uses.
  Counties use their PILT payments for a wide variety of purposes, 
including some--such as law enforcement, fire fighting, and search and 
rescue--that are directly related to the federal lands within their 
boundaries and the people who use those lands.
  For nearly two decades after the program was established, PILT 
funding remained level but the value of PILT payments was eroded by 
inflation. In 1995, Congress amended the law to raise the authorization 
level. However, since 1995, no budget request--from either President 
Clinton or President Bush--has requested more than two-thirds of the 
amount authorized by the PILT Act. As a result, the burden on county 
taxpayers has not been reduced to the extent that Congress intended 
when it passed the 1995 legislation.
  Our bill would ensure full implementation of that legislation.

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