releases: https://www.bennet.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?id=94511679-D696-19C6-6CE4-609E10F06BA6
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
This data as json
| url | title | date | year | month | party | chamber | state | member_name | bioguide_id | domain | scraper | source | date_source | text | has_text | collected_at | updated_at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| https://www.bennet.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?id=94511679-D696-19C6-6CE4-609E10F06BA6 | Bennet, Vitter Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Protect States' Revenue Wrongfully Targeted by Sequester | 2013-11-08 | 2013 | 2013-11 | Democrat | House | CO | Michael Bennet | B001267 | www.bennet.senate.gov | legacy | U.S. Senators MichaelBennet (D-CO) and David Vitter (R-LA) today introduced the bipartisanReturn Our State SharesActto ensure that mineral royalty payments and resources from sportsmen and restoration trust funds that are owed toColorado, Louisiana, and otherstates,willno longer be wrongfully subject to the sequester. The mineral leasing revenues are dispersed tostates andcommunities thatdepend on the funds to help run local governments and schools and provide other critical community services. Thesportsmen and restoration trust funds provide habitat and other environmental improvements to statesand other constituencies.All of the funds in question are generated from the private sector,passedthrough the federal government and arethendispersedto states and other entitieson a monthly or regular basis. As part ofthe automatic budget cuts commonly referred to as sequestration, and despite the fact that these arefundsowedto states under law andarenottaxpayer dollars pulled from the Treasury,the Interior Departmentand Office of Management and Budget (OMB) plan to continue to withholdmillions in royalty and trust fund payments through each fiscal year. At the end of each year they will return the onshore mineral royalties andrestoration funds to states in one lump sum. Withholding the payments from states and communities until the end of the year disrupts important predictabilityandhasthe potential toharm their budgeting and borrowing processes. These revenues are not federal spendingand are not even being used to reduce the deficit once they're sequestered. Our bill ensures that communities receive these dollars when they need them to balance their budgets and provide critical services, Bennet said. Congress should find a smarter way to reduce the debt but at the very least it should pass this bill to prevent revenue from wrongfully beingwithheld; especially if it isn't going to deficit reduction anyway. It is absolutely ridiculous for States to wait an arbitrary amount of time to receive the funds that are theirs, regardless of sequestration. Our legislation will cut the red tape and allow States to bypass the unnecessary one-year delays on program funds that are not affected by sequestration and do not reduce the deficit, Vitter said. The Bennet-VitterRelease Our State SharesActremoves theTreasury accounts derived from theMineral Leasing Act (MLA), the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA), theRESTORE Act, and the Wildlife and Sport Fish RestorationProgramsfrom the sequester completely, thereby ensuringstatesreceivetheirfull payment at the appropriate time. None of these accounts are funded by taxpayer dollars. Guidance regarding the implementation of the sequester from OMB and Treasury suggeststhat offshore mineral royalties and theadditionaltrust fund accounts included in the billshouldbe treated the same way as onshore mineral royalties andGulf Coastrestoration funds, meaning they will be withheld and sent to states at the end of the fiscal year. In a letter of support for the billto Bennet,Colorado Counties Inc. (CCI) stated: "(CCI) wishes to express gratitude and support for your bill that would exempt payments made under the Mineral Leasing Act (MLA) from the sequestration budget reductions.Colorado stood to lose $8.4 million dedicated for sorely needed transportation, education and other infrastructure projects. It is gratifying Interior remitted the payments back to the states. These funds should be protected from future discretionary designations." "These conservationtrust funds were created to ensure our country's national resources will be protected despite disagreement over other federal spending," said Larry Schweiger, President and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. "We support theReturn Our State Shares Actbecause funds paid by hunters, anglers, and energy companies to ensure the sustainability of wildlife and the environment should do just that. We thank the Sponsors of this bill for keeping the trust with America's sportsmen and women by permanently exempting the Trust Funds from sequestration, said Dan Forster, President of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and Director, Georgia Wildlife Resources Division. The states will use these funds to fulfill our conservation commitments to our hunting, shooting and fishing constituents and for the long-term benefit and use by all Americans. The Return Our State Shares Act is cosponsored by Senators MartinHeinrich (D-NM), Roger Wicker(R-MS),Richard Shelby(R-MS)and Bill Nelson (D-FL). | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |