U.S. Senator Ken Salazar

Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs Committees

 

2300 15th Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO 80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510

 

 

For Immediate Release

March 18, 2005

CONTACT:    Cody Wertz – Press Secretary

                        202-228-3630

Jen Clanahan – Deputy Press Secretary

                        303-455-7600

 

SENATOR SALAZAR CONTINUES RURAL SPOTLIGHT BY SECURING $150M MORE FOR RURAL COUNTIES WITH PUBLIC LANDS

WASHINGTON, DC – United States Senator Ken Salazar continued his commitment to spotlight the “Forgotten America,” rural communities in Colorado and across the nation, by winning Senate passage of a budget amendment to ensure full funding of the Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program in the FY06 budget resolution

Salazar’s amendment increased the budget for PILT by a projected $150 million for an estimated total budget of $350 million for FY06.

PILT ensures that local communities in states like Colorado – where there are large portions of land which are controlled by the federal government – do not lose valuable resources from foregone property taxes. Those resources fund programs from education to law enforcement. The Administration’s budget this year is again proposing to cut that funding. According to the Bureau of Land Management, more than one-third of Colorado's land area is publicly-owned, including over 20.6 million acres in Colorado’s 53 rural counties.

Senator Salazar’s PILT amendment was passed by unanimous consent of the Senate on Thursday night.

Salazar said of the vote, “I am very pleased with today’s unanimous bipartisan vote in favor of full funding of the PILT program in this year’s budget. As I traveled Colorado last month, time and again I heard from Colorado’s local leaders about the importance of PILT funding and their disappointment with the Administration’s planned cuts. We still have a long way to go to ensure that Colorado’s rural counties get the funding they depend on, but this vote is a great first step. I look forward to working in the coming months with my fellow Senators to invest in our rural cities and towns.”

In early March, Salazar introduced S. 496, the PILT and Refuge Revenue Sharing Permanent Funding Act. Under Senator Salazar’s proposal, funding for PILT program would be made permanent. The bill is still pending in committee.

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