2020: Fitzpatrick Voted For Permanently Funding The Land And Water
Conservation Fund At $900 Million Annually. In July 2020, Fitzpatrick
voted for the Great American Outdoors Act that would, according to
Congressional Quarterly, "permanently fund the Land and Water
Conservation Fund at $900 million annually and establish for
maintenance of national parks and other public lands. It would require
50% of U.S. energy development revenues to be deposited into the
restoration fund annually for fiscal 2021 through 2025, up to a maximum
of $1.9 billion annually. Among other provisions regarding the
restoration fund, it would allocate 70% of funding to the National Park
Service and 15% to the U.S. Forest Service. It would allow no more than
35% of funds to be used for transportation projects and prohibit the use
of funds for land acquisition, employee bonuses or to supplant
discretionary funding. It would require the Interior and Agriculture
Departments to submit to Congress a list of priority deferred
maintenance projects to be funded for fiscal 2021. It would allow the
departments to accept public donations to the fund and require them to
incorporate measures to improve the accessibility of public lands to
individuals with disabilities." The vote was on a motion to concur in
the Senate amendment. The House agreed to the motion by a vote of
310-107. The President signed the bill into law. [House Vote 155,
7/22/20; Congressional
Quarterly, 7/22/20;
Congressional Actions,
H.R.1957]
2019: Fitzpatrick Voted For An Amendment To The FY 2020 Continuing
Appropriations To Increase Funding For The Land And Water Conservation
Fund By $5 Million. In June 2019, Fitzpatrick voted for an amendment
that would, according to Congressional Quarterly, "increase then
decrease by $5 million funding for operations of the Land and Water
Conservation Fund, including for land and water acquisition and
administrative expenses." The vote was on adoption of the amendment. The
House rejected the amendment by a vote of 189-243. [House Vote 392,
6/20/19; Congressional
Quarterly, 6/20/19;
Congressional Actions,
H.Amdt.451;
Congressional Actions,
H.R.3055]
2019: Fitzpatrick Voted For A Federal Lands Bill That Permanently
Reauthorized The Land And Water Conservation Fund, Created New National
Monuments, Expanded A Number Of National Parks And Added 1.3 Million
Acres Of New Wilderness. In February 2019, Fitzpatrick voted for a
landmark federal lands bill. According to Congressional Quarterly, "the
bill that would permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation
Fund, with at least 40 percent of the fund to be used for state
projects, at least 40 percent for federal projects, and at least 3
percent toward increasing recreational access to federal lands. It would
also reauthorize, through 2023, the national volcano monitoring system
and the U.S. Geological Survey. Through 2022, it would reauthorize
several programs related to wildlife conservation, invasive species
management, and prevention of illegal poaching and trafficking. The bill
also includes a number of provisions related to the designation,
regulation, exchange, and management of federal public lands and
forests. It would make additions and boundary adjustments to several
national parks, monuments, and historic sites. It would authorize and
establish procedures for the transfer of water and power facilities from
the Bureau of Reclamation to state and local entities and would
authorize a Reclamation water management project in south-central
Washington State. It also contains provisions related to federal land
access for hunting and ordering studies on federal land designation,
among other provisions." The vote was on a motion to suspend the rules
and pass the bill. The House agreed to the motion, thereby passing the
bill, by a vote of 363 to 62. The Senate had already agreed to the
legislation, thus the bill was sent to the president, who signed it into
law. [House Vote 95,
2/26/19; Congressional
Quarterly, 2/26/19;
Congressional Actions, S.
47]