Sen. Cramer, Colleagues Request Full Funding for the PILT Program in Fiscal Year 2023 Appropriations Bill

Press Release

U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Budget Committee, joined Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO), Mike Crapo (R-ID), and 29 of their colleagues in urging U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, and Richard Shelby (R-AL), Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, to fully fund the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program for fiscal year (FY) 2023. PILT provides payments to counties with non-taxable federal land within their borders to offset the lost property tax revenue.

"Without full funding for the PILT program, counties across the nation will be unable to provide essential services such as law enforcement, education, search and rescue, road maintenance and public health to their residents and millions of visitors to our public lands," wrote the senators. "Moving forward, we look forward to working with you to enact a fiscally responsible, long-term solution to fully fund PILT and eliminate the uncertainty that counties face each year."

PILT funding is critical for communities across the country that use these funds for essential services. Throughout the country, PILT provides critical resources to nearly 1,900 counties across 49 states. Counties have used these payments for more than 40 years to fund law enforcement, firefighting, emergency response, and other essential county services. As communities continue to contend with the aftermath of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, this funding also supports communities' recovery efforts. This bipartisan group of senators will continue working toward a long-term solution for PILT that will provide counties and local governments sustained funding and more predictability.

Joining Senators Cramer, Bennet, and Crapo are Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Mark Warner (D-VA), James Risch (R-ID), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Steve Daines (R-MT), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Alex Padilla (D-CA), James Inhofe (R-OK), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), John Barrasso (R-WY), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Ben Ray Luján (D-NN), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jon Tester (D-MT), and Tim Kaine (D-VA).

Click here to read the letter.

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