Tom Price: “H.R. 249, the bill that we are discussing here, prohibits the commercial sale of wild horses and burros by the Bureau of…”

“H.R. 249, the bill that we are discussing here, prohibits the commercial sale of wild horses and burros by the Bureau of Land Management. As part of the Bureau of Land Management's program to protect and manage and control wild, free-roaming horses and burros, they are permitted to sell wild horses and burros that are over 10 years of age for commercial purposes for approximately $10 per animal, if the animals have not been successfully adopted in three auctions. If the animals are not adopted and BLM cannot sell the animals, then it will have to provide long-term care for them. Implementing this bill, H.R. 249, will cause the Bureau of Land Management to lose the minimal revenue it is currently able to generate from the sale of the animals and incur additional costs by requiring it to provide long-term care for the animals that they otherwise wouldn't have to, essentially, by mandating a new responsibility. Now, according to the CBO report accompanying this bill, it says, "Based on information from Bureau of Land Management about the number of animals sold and the cost to care for them, CBO estimates that the resulting net changes in discretionary spending under H.R. 249 would not exceed $500,000 annually, assuming the availability of appropriated funds." However, it costs BLM roughly $25 million a year to feed and shelter roughly 30,000 wild horses in its management program.”