María Elvira Salazar: “I want to just spend a few quick minutes speaking about both of these amendments. The first amendment is an amendment…”

“I want to just spend a few quick minutes speaking about both of these amendments. The first amendment is an amendment relating to the payment in lieu of taxes. For those of us who come from the West, where so much of our land is owned by the Federal Government, payment in lieu of taxes is essential for our local governments to be able to function. In my great State of Colorado, most of the western half of the State is owned by the Federal Government. There are many counties in my State that rely on payment in lieu of taxes for up to 90, 95 percent of their budgets. The amendment I have sent forward that deals with payment in lieu of taxes is an amendment that would add an additional $7 million into the payment in lieu of taxes fund. That would bring the amount up to a level of consistency with what has come out of the House of Representatives. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to support the amendment. Mr. President, the second amendment deals with the Land and Water Conservation Fund. My proposal, in this amendment, is that the user fees that are collected in, for example, ski areas in places such as Montana or Wyoming or Colorado--that those amounts of money be returned back to the Land and Water Conservation Fund in those States in addition to the amount of money they already receive under the Land and Water Conservation Fund.…”