[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 42 (Friday, March 5, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1270-S1271]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            MORNING BUSINESS

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                    AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT OF 2021

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, today's legislation takes a very 
important step in providing financial assistance to multiemployer 
pension plans, particularly those plans that have already had to 
suspend benefits in order to save the plans from going insolvent. That 
has been a very painful step for some plans in New York because it 
resulted in retiree benefit cuts of as much as 60 percent.
  This legislation will allow those plans to restore painful cuts and 
ensure others on the brink do not have to take similar steps.
  I will be watching how the administration implements this new program 
very closely to ensure plans receiving financial assistance under the 
new program are not placed in a worse long-term funding position than 
they are today or are projected to be into the future. This new program 
is intended to be a long-term solution for these ailing plans, a 
solution that protects retiree benefits as well as the health of the 
plans themselves.
  Mr. WYDEN. Madam President, Section 605 of the State and Local 
section of the American Rescue Plan requires further explanation on its 
intent. Below is the salient language of Section 605, Local Assistance 
and Tribal Consistency Fund:

       ``(b) Authority to Make Payments.--
       ``(1) Payments to eligible revenue sharing counties.--For 
     each of fiscal years 2022 and 2023, the Secretary shall 
     reserve $750,000,000 of the total amount appropriated under 
     subsection (a) to allocate and pay to each eligible revenue 
     sharing county in amounts that are determined by the 
     Secretary taking into account economic conditions of each 
     eligible revenue sharing county, using measurements of 
     poverty rates, household income, land values, and 
     unemployment rates as well as other economic indicators, over 
     the 20-year period ending with September 30, 2021.
       ``(l) Eligible revenue sharing county.--The term `eligible 
     revenue sharing county' means--
       ``(A) a county, parish, or borough--
       ``(i) that is independent of any other unit of local 
     government; and
       ``(ii) that, as determined by the Secretary, is the 
     principal provider of government services for the area within 
     its jurisdiction; and
       ``(iii) for which, as determined by the Secretary, there is 
     a negative revenue impact due to implementation of a Federal 
     program or changes to such program; and
       ``(B) the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 
     Rico, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands. . . . ``

         
  Folks may wonder: ``What are the revenue sharing counties?''; ``Why 
Treasury?''; and ``How is my new program different from existing county 
support programs?''
  Let me explain my thinking in putting this language together. In 
every state, but especially the West, there are counties with tracts of 
federal lands that have unique impacts on the local economy. These 
counties are referred to in Section 605 as ``revenue sharing 
counties''--counties that have a direct fiscal relationship with public 
lands and public resources. These counties help pay for roads, schools, 
and other services that directly benefit and, in many cases, support 
federal lands. They get payments for the tax-

[[Page S1271]]

exempt status of those public lands, or payments intended to split the 
revenue from the commercial use of public lands. This relationship 
between the counties and those lands and extractive industries usually 
means they are boom-and-bust counties--falling faster into recession 
and slower to climb out of recession when changes occur to particular 
federal programs or when, for example, a massive global pandemic hits 
without warning.
         
  I, and many of my colleagues, have worked for years on programs 
attempting to stabilize those local economies--primarily through two 
laws: the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act, 
which is largely administered by the Secretary of Agriculture through 
the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management; and the 
Payment in Lieu of Taxes Program, administered through the Secretary of 
the Interior.
  So, why implement a new and separate program assigned to the 
Secretary of Treasury? Treasury is the agency with the best and most 
complete knowledge of the economic workings of our nation. Therefore, 
it is right up its alley to ``tak[e] into account economic conditions 
of each eligible revenue sharing county, using measurements of poverty 
rates, household income, land values, and unemployment rates as well as 
other economic indicators, over the 20-year period ending with 
September 30, 2021.'' In addition, my 20 years of experience in this 
arena, combined with what I've heard from Oregonians in rural counties, 
adds up to the conclusion that it is time to try something new to 
stabilize the local economies of these revenue-sharing counties.
         
  I am not expecting Treasury to do this work on its own. I will work 
with the Department, as will my colleague and long-time partner on this 
issue, Senator Crapo. I also fully expect Treasury to consult with 
others in government who have history in this arena on the creation of 
this new formula such as the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior, 
as well as the National Association of Counties, state county 
associations, including the Association of O&C Counties Oregon, and 
many other groups with a deep understanding of these impacts across the 
United States. These entities will help Treasury stand up this new 
program at Treasury because they provide historic context to the 
entirely new program in its analysis of the needs of the counties, for 
the first time taking into account economic conditions on the ground. 
The new program will include $1.5 billion for eligible counties and 
$500 million for Tribes over the next two years.
  So, now that I have covered the questions of ``What are the revenue 
sharing counties?''; ``Why Treasury?''; and ``How is my new program 
different?''; I want to provide an answer to ``What has happened in the 
revenue sharing county to warrant a payment?''
  Revenue sharing counties have suffered economic loss due to the 
implementation of, or changes in, a federal program. For example, 
necessary environmental and wildlife protection laws have reduced the 
revenue sharing payments to counties that host U.S. Forest Service 
lands and timberlands managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
  Over the last half century, revenue sharing counties have seen their 
budgets fluctuate wildly based on inconsistent revenue sharing payments 
caused, in part, by the boom and bust nature of resource extraction 
industries. Additionally, current federal county payments laws meant to 
stabilize this cycle, such as PILT and SRS, are often inconsistently 
funded and leave counties on an economic roller coaster each year 
waiting for inconsistent reauthorizations.
  The purpose of my new program is to help stabilize the budgets and 
economies of counties that have historically hosted extractive industry 
on private or public lands and where downturns in those extractive 
industries, caused by government action, affected the county 
economically and budgetarily.
  Unfortunately, due to the nature of the reconciliation process in the 
Senate, the final language of the new county payments program did not 
make this perfectly clear. Instead, the final language referred simply 
to revenue sharing counties, but requires Treasury to establish a 
formula that helps both.
  Let me touch on a couple of the other key provisions in the section. 
First, while the money provided is for a county to use as it sees fit, 
a county cannot use any of the funds to lobby anyone for any reason at 
any level of government. If a county does use the money in this 
unauthorized manner, the county must return the improperly used money 
to the treasury.
         
  The county that takes money under this section must report to the 
Treasury Secretary about the use of that money. The Secretary has the 
discretion to make the reporting requirements more detailed. And 
lastly, if the county does not make a timely report, then the county 
must pay a penalty.
  And lastly, let me talk about the $500,000,000 in this section 
destined for the Tribes. The section reads:

       ``(2) Payments to eligible tribal governments.--For each of 
     fiscal years 2022 and 2023, the Secretary shall reserve 
     $250,000,000 of the total amount appropriated under 
     subsection (a) to allocate and pay to eligible Tribal 
     governments in amounts that are determined by the Secretary 
     taking into account economic conditions of each eligible 
     Tribe.
       ``(2) Eligible tribal government.--The term 'eligible 
     Tribal government' means the recognized governing body of an 
     eligible Tribe.
       ``(3) Eligible tribe.--The term 'eligible Tribe' means any 
     Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, 
     community, component band, or component reservation, 
     individually identified (including parenthetically) in the 
     list published most recently as of the date of enactment of 
     this section pursuant to section 104 of the Federally 
     Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131).''

  This section of the bill would establish a new Tribal economic 
stabilization fund, which would allow the Department of Treasury to 
make payments to Tribal governments for any governmental purpose deemed 
necessary by the Tribe. This language is intended for the Department of 
Treasury to work with the Tribal Governments defined in the bill to 
determine a formula ensuring equitable distribution of the funding each 
year. This funding could be used to repair critical drinking water 
infrastructure, fund Tribal healthcare services, or other critical 
Tribal needs.
  Madam President, I am thrilled to be on the new path of providing 
stabilized aid to these counties. I look forward to working with my 
colleagues in standing up this program.

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