Western Governors challenge cuts, return of funds required by sequestration
The Western Governors' Association (WGA) delivered a letter today expressing "alarm" about implementation of the "budget sequester," which has seen federal agencies request the return of substantial funds already allocated to the states under the Mineral Leasing Act and Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (SRS).
In addition to seeking return of the funds, which were distributed in Fiscal Year 2012, one of the agencies plans to assess interest, penalties and administrative costs on the sequestration amounts if states do not remit payment.
The letter was sent to Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Office and Management and Budget Director Sylvia Mathews Burwell. It received media coverage in the Idaho Statesman, Casper Star Tribune and the Oregonian in Portland. In addition, E&E reported on the letter and posted it on its websiite.
The Western Governors, in the letter signed by Utah Gov. Gary R. Herbert and Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (Chair and Vice Chairman of WGA), dispute that any of the funds should be returned under terms of the sequester.
"Any comparison between a mineral receipt transfer and an appropriated expenditure is fundamentally flawed," the Governors wrote. "The federal government has no option except to transfer these pass-through funds to qualifying states."
The letter explains that mineral royalties are "statutorily guaranteed to mineral-producing states under the provisions of the Mineral Leasing Act ... and not the equivalent of a standard federal expenditure."
The request from the Chief of the U.S. Forest Service to return 5.1 percent of the obligated and distributed Fiscal Year 2012 SRS funding also draws fire in the letter, which notes "the Act does not include language authorizing retroactive application of the spending reductions or limitations. Nor does it contain language requiring reimbursement of funds that were already distributed in order to satisfy spending limitations."
SRS is intended to honor a federal agreement to states and counties to provide funding to make up for funds they would have received had the federal government continued to offer timber for sale on federal lands within their jurisdictions' boundaries.
The letter demands "written" response to a variety of questions, including:
"What is the precise legal basis justifying the action in sequestering FY 2012 state mineral royalties?"
"Is this sequestration of state mineral royalties being applied with equal force to all states receiving mineral royalties? If not, why not?"
In regards to SRS, the Governors ask:
"Upon what specific legal authority does the USFS rely to justify its demand that states return obligated and distributed funds?"
"Are states subject to interest charges or punitive measures if funds are not returned?"
Contact Joe Rassenfoss, Communications Director for the Western Governors' Association, for more information and to arrange interviews. Call 720-897-4555 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.