Political Quotes

“The Administration supports the payment in lieu of taxes (PILT) program to compensate units of local governments of losses to their real property tax base due to Federal lands within their boundaries. The Administration, however, cannot support S. 455, which would authorize substantial increases in PILT payments. Unlike other public land payments to States and units of local government that are funded principally from revenues arising from public land use, the PILT program is funded through direct annual appropriations. Consequently, given the discretionary limits imposed by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, additional PILT payments would come at the expense of other priority programs. Mr. President, in closing, may I say, we will have to cut various domestic programs, defense and other existing domestic programs, below the President's request. And we will have to cut them, not just below inflation but below a hard freeze in 1995. The question is, should we enact a bill that will more than double these payments to local governments over the next 5 years and then index them to rise automatically with inflation thereafter and at the very time when we are going to have to cut many existing worthwhile programs every year for the foreseeable future?”