GAOA - Act now!

[beginnerhunter]

Looks like we went 4/6 among the AR congressional delegation. Not bad considering all GOP. Also pleasantly surprised to see Rep Crenshaw vote yes, being from Texas.

With 81 Republicans voting in favor if this, why is PLT on the party platform?? Okay I know why, but looks stupid given how much broad public appeal our public lands have, even among Republicans.

 

[Northwoods Labs]

My Rep, Tom Tiffany, voted no. Not a surprise, he is the Rob Bishop of Wisconsin. Absolute trash, might feel bad for his staffer after I call today......

 

[westbranch]

My rep, Russ Fulcher voted no as well. Not surprised, video from his website:

 

[Irrelevant]

A bit surprising to see E WA McMorris-Rogers voting yes but Newhouse voting No. He seemed the more moderate of the two.

 

[Wildabeest]

Mike Lee finally sent me a response to the email I sent him prior to the Senate vote... Funny how he claims that using oil and gas royalties is “accounting fiction” and then suggests that the way to pay for maintenance backlog is via increased tourist visa fees. Apparently no one has told him about COVID. Talk about “accounting fiction”!

July 23, 2020 Dear Greg: Thank you for reaching out. I greatly appreciate your engagement and input on the issues facing our nation today. Regarding your email, I appreciate your interest in S.3422, the Great American Outdoors Act, which addresses the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) as well as the maintenance backlog in our National Parks Service (NPS) lands. I have been seriously engaged on both of these issues. Unfortunately in its current state, I believe that this legislation will greatly exacerbate the nation's debt, eliminate Congressional oversight, and hurt any attempt to make serious, lasting progress on the NPS maintenance backlog. While the bill claims to be funded through unallocated receipts from oil and gas royalties, this is an accounting fiction. These royalties are currently going into the Treasury and being used to fund all the programs that Americans already enjoy. Diverting them towards LWCF without providing any sort of offset will merely require us to add more money to the ballooning debt we already have incurred. This bill also effectively eliminates Congressional oversight for a program that has been used illegally in the past. In a recent Government Accountability Office report, it was shown that the money appropriated from LWCF has been used to illegally acquire lands west of the 100th Meridian. There is no reason to believe that these illegal acquisitions of land will cease. By permanently reauthorizing the Land and Water Conservation we lose the necessary oversight mechanisms that keep an already wayward bureaucracy accountable. The bill does nothing to prevent the the NPS backlog from getting this bad again in the future. One of the main things that has caused the maintenance backlog to grow so precipitously is the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) permitting process. This permitting process, though good in intent - it sought to make sure that environmental effects of federal projects be mitigated - has spun out of control, adding very little tangible environmental benefit, a large cost increase, and years to complete federal projects. Thinking about how to properly reform this process is a crucial first step to addressing the maintenance backlog. In addition to believing that any appropriation from LWCF should be going towards the maintenance backlog on federal lands, and not towards anything else, I have co-sponsored the Responsibly Enhancing America’s Landscapes (REAL) Act, which pays for the NPS maintenance backlog by effectively giving a discount to Americans: it raises tourist visa fees and diverts the money raised from those visa increases to cover the maintenance backlog. This, I believe, is a responsible way of keeping our National Parks beautiful while not hurting the pocketbooks of the Americans who enjoys them. As our country faces the COVID-19 pandemic, I am also doing all that I can to ensure Utahns are equipped to get through the crisis. Please visit our COVID-19 page here for up-to-date coronavirus information and resources for both individuals and businesses. If you would like to stay up to date with my work, please subscribe to the online newsletter, follow me on social media, and sign up for my tele-townhalls at this link or by texting "senmikelee' to 828282. Thank you again for reaching out to my office, and please do not hesitate to let us know if there is anything we can assist you with. Best regards, Michael S. Lee United States Senator AH/kd

 

[seeth07]

Why does he even bring up Covid in his letter? What does Covid have to do with this bill?

 

[TOGIE]

Why does he even bring up Covid in his letter? What does Covid have to do with this bill?

it's the new red herring regarding oil and gas royalites

oil and gas royalties are f&**ed cause of covid, so with less royalties it's irresponsible to put them towards conservation, i mean it's irresponsible to pass any legislation involving money during covid right??

 

[seeth07]

In a recent Government Accountability Office report, it was shown that the money appropriated from LWCF has been used to illegally acquire lands west of the 100th Meridian.

Wait.....how is it possible that the fund "illegally" acquires lands? I understand that the sole purpose of the fund isn't to purchase land but that sure is one of the best ways to accomplish its mission.

Coming from the LWCF Coalition website:
"It was a simple idea: use revenues from the depletion of one natural resource - offshore oil and gas - to support the conservation of another precious resource - our land and water. Every year, $900 million in royalties paid by energy companies drilling for oil and gas on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) are put into this fund. The money is intended to protect national parks, areas around rivers and lakes, national forests, and national wildlife refuges from development, and to provide matching grants for state and local parks and recreation projects. Over the years, LWCF has also grown and evolved to include grants to protect working forests, wildlife habitat, critical drinking water supplies and disappearing battlefields, as well as increased use of easements."

 

[Elkmagnet]

It paid for the tennis courts in town the green belt and a local park.
I guess instead of getting kids outside these guys would rather funnel the royalties into healthcare and pay to care for the obesity and diabetes we are avoiding.

 

[TOGIE]

one of my favorite, and one of the biggest, state wildlife areas in colorado was initially purchased with the help of LWCF

just a giant wintering ground mecca, and big enough to backpack in. i'd freaking support an additional income tax if it was gonna help create more spaces like that

 

[beginnerhunter]

one of my favorite, and one of the biggest, state wildlife areas in colorado was initially purchased with the help of LWCF

just a giant wintering ground mecca, and big enough to backpack in. i'd freaking support an additional income tax if it was gonna help create more spaces like that

Several states have a sales tax for conservation. The one in my state, AR, helps game and fish lease hundreds of thousands of acres and even purchase public land. Apparently it is illegal to have something like that in Colorado. Crazy. Sportsmen should be advocating for them in every state!

 

[TOGIE]

Several states have a sales tax for conservation. The one in my state, AR, helps game and fish lease hundreds of thousands of acres and even purchase public land. Apparently it is illegal to have something like that in Colorado. Crazy. Sportsmen should be advocating for them in every state!

well if we created a new land conservation agency funded by like a small state income tax increase or soemthing it could... maybe? work

but if the money goes to cpw it don't work. it's a shame

even so, all tax increases are direct democracy decisions here. even for a purple/blue state, we don't raise taxes often lol

 

[Oak]

Several states have a sales tax for conservation. The one in my state, AR, helps game and fish lease hundreds of thousands of acres and even purchase public land. Apparently it is illegal to have something like that in Colorado. Crazy. Sportsmen should be advocating for them in every state!

It's not illegal, it just needs political and public support. Last week the CPW Commission heard about the results of a "relevancy study" that was recently conducted to determine what types of alternative funding for CPW would be supported by the public at large. You can see the PowerPoint here and watch the presentation of the PPT to the Commission at the link below.

 

[beginnerhunter]

Hmm, maybe I'm misremembering something @wllm1313 had told me before. I apologize if that is the case.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Hmm, maybe I'm misremembering something @wllm1313 had told me before. I apologize if that is the case.

Not illegal... would need a constitutional amendment. Money couldn’t be used to fund CPW it would have to go into a new separate org that was task specific.

You definitely couldn’t have a sales tax as a revenue funding source for the department.

You are basically correct though a sales tax for CPW will never happen in CO, people who think it will either don’t pay attention to our ballot issues or moved to CO recently and don’t understand TABOR.

https://docs.merid.org/SITECORE_DOCS/Colorado%20Parks%20and%20Wildlife%20Future%20Funding%20Study%20Dec2018.pdf

 

[hank4elk]

My Senators & Rep. backed & voted for it.
Bet SCROTOMUST does not sign..................

 

[44hunter45]

My rep, Russ Fulcher voted no as well. Not surprised, video from his website:

I had almost begun to trust that man. It's interesting that his social is crickets on GAOA. He seems to be hoping no one notices his position.

This is the Utah script.