Delegation spearheads royalty change process
To stop federal 'pickpocketing'
by Wyoming Delegation: Senator Mike Enzi, Representative Barbara Cubin, Senator John Barrasso
February 1, 2008
(Washington, D.C.) - The Wyoming delegation thinks enough is enough when it comes to the recently enacted provision that would essentially steal two percent of Wyoming’s mineral royalties, costing Wyoming nearly $20 million a year.
To stop this federal pickpocketing from going forward, the delegation began the process of building a coalition of members to oppose the royalty change. The first step in the process began with a letter to the Secretary of the Interior as well as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget asking the agencies to halt the inclusion of “net receipt sharing” in the President’s budget proposal for the Department of Interior for 2009. The delegation will continue to lead this effort and build the coalition.
“It is unconscionable that the Department of Interior and the Office of Management and Budget would propose to take money from states used to pay for important priorities, including educational improvements, to pay for more program administration. This appropriation does not serve the taxpayers who fund the government nor does it serve the states who allow for energy production to happen within their borders.
“We strongly opposed the inclusion of this provision in the fiscal year 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act. We do not believe the measure received thorough consideration and believe that if it had received such consideration, it would have been removed,” the delegation and other members of impacted states wrote in a Jan. 29 letter.
A copy of the letter is below.
The Honorable Dirk Kempthorne
Secretary, United States Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20240
The Honorable Jim Nussle
Director, Office of Management and Budget
725 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20503
Dear Secretary Kempthorne and Director Nussle,
We are writing to urge you to avoid the inclusion of “net receipt sharing” as part of the President’s Budget for fiscal year 2009 for the Department of the Interior. The proposal would reduce the States’ share of receipts from mineral leasing activities on public lands by two percent annually. Previous budget documents have suggested that this reduction is necessary to defray administrative costs at the Department.
We strongly disagree with this assertion and oppose the Department taking money that is rightfully owed to our states in order to pay for more federal bureaucracy. It is unconscionable that the Department of the Interior and the Office of Management and Budget would propose to take money from states used to pay for important priorities, including educational improvements, to pay for more program administration. This appropriation does not serve the taxpayers who fund the government nor does it serve the states who allow for energy production to happen within their borders.
Similar policy, implemented in 1991 and initially repealed in 2000, led to the loss of nearly $250 million in States’ revenues. The inclusion of this proposal in the fiscal year 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 110-161) will once again allow for this harmful provision to have a negative impact on States.
We strongly opposed the inclusion of this provision in the fiscal year 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act. We do not believe the measure received thorough consideration and believe that if it had received such consideration, it would have been removed. We hope the Department of the Interior and the Office of Management and Budget will recognize the problematic nature of this provision and will avoid including the proposal in the President’s Budget for fiscal year 2009.
Thank you for your consideration of our request.
Sincerely,
Senator Mike Enzi
Senator John Barrasso
Senator Jon Tester
Senator Orrin Hatch
Senator Lisa Murkowski
Representative Barbara Cubin
Representative Stevan Pearce
Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers
Representative Dean Heller
Representative Chris Cannon
Representative Rob Bishop
Representative Dennis R. Rehberg
Representative Wally Herger
Representative John T. Doolittle
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