María Elvira Salazar: “I, at the outset, thank both Senator Bingaman and Senator Thomas for their willingness to sponsor this amendment, which…”

“I, at the outset, thank both Senator Bingaman and Senator Thomas for their willingness to sponsor this amendment, which is an important amendment for counties, especially in the western part of the United States where so much of our land is held in the hands of the Federal Government. I would like to underscore the importance of the Payment in Lieu of Taxes Program. PILT funds are Federal payments to local governments. We all understand that property taxes are the main source of revenue for local governments. Anyone who has spent any time at all in Colorado or in the West will recognize that local governments there do not have a tax base because the Federal Government owns huge tracts of land in our States. In my State alone, approximately one-third of Colorado is owned by the Federal Government. Earlier this spring, in my first Senate trip around our great State, I held meetings with local-elected officials. Time and time again, these local-elected officials--mayors and county commissioners-- informed me about the importance of full PILT funding and that it is their No. 1 priority. Sadly, PILT has never been fully funded by this Congress. Congress regularly shortchanges local governments with Federal lands by appropriating less than the authorized levels. To that end, one of the first bills I introduced as a U.S. Senator would make full funding of PILT a mandatory priority for this Congress every year.…”