[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 20 (Thursday, February 1, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E241]
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

                      Wednesday, January 31, 2007

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Madam Speaker, together with my Colorado 
colleague, Representative John Salazar, I am again 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 we introduced in the 109th Congress. 
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 short-sightedness demonstrated in the 
presidential budget that has repeatedly failed to request full funding 
for PILT and has even proposed cuts from amounts Congress has 
previously provided.
  While both programs are significant, PILT is particularly important 
for counties in Colorado and other States that include large expanses 
of Federal lands. In 2006, for example, counties in Colorado received 
more than $17.4 million out of a total of more than $232 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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