| |
 |
| September 20th, 2007 |
|
Media Contact(s): Jared Whitley (202) 224-5251 |
|
Printable Version |
|
HATCH-BISHOP BILL TO INCREASE EDUCATION FUNDS
APPLE Initiative Highlights Link Between Public Lands and Public Education Funding |
| |
Washington – Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Congressman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) today introduced legislation to help Utah and other Western states address chronic public education funding shortages – shortages which are based in large part on vast federal land holdings in the West.
The bill, the Action Plan for Public Land and Education (APPLE) Act of 2007, is based on the fact that Western states will never be able adequately to fund education as long as the federal government owns so much land in those states. States cannot tax public lands held by the federal government, and thus cannot produce revenue off of them to support education.
“Some say that the West’s education funding deficit is due to a lack of commitment or effort by state governments, which is preposterous to anyone who knows how much Utahns value their children’s schooling,” Hatch said. “Property tax revenue, which funds education, is generated on private lands – and 65 percent of Utah is federally owned, second only to Nevada with 83 percent – so it shouldn’t be a surprise that Utah’s school districts struggle with their budgets.”
The APPLE Act would allow Western states to select and take back control of 5 percent of federal public lands within their boundaries that have no specific federal designation. The revenue generated from the sale or lease of these lands would be dedicated solely to public education. Certain existing areas would be excluded, such as National Parks, National Forests, Wilderness Areas, and military installations.
“Utah should be commended for the resources it puts toward education, but our hands are tied as long as the feds have so much of our land locked up and off the tax rolls,” Bishop said. “This APPLE initiative is simply an effort to right a longstanding wrong, and give our kids in the West a little more help. We need more control of our lands so we can use them to better fund our education system.”
While Utah traditionally spends a higher percentage of its overall annual budget on education than almost every other state, it still struggles to fund education needs in the state sufficiently. The same is true in many other Western states where, Hatch and Bishop contend, the states lack the strong sales tax base necessary to dramatically raise public education funding because so much of their land — 52 percent on average — is owned by the Federal government.
The APPLE bill was introduced simultaneously in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, where Hatch and Bishop announced their intention to immediately push for legislative hearings.
|
| |
| ### |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
