2020: Schweikert Voted For Permanently Funding The Land And Water Conservation Fund At $900 Million Annually. In July 2020, Schweikert 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: Schweikert Voted Against An Amendment To The FY 2020 Continuing Appropriations To Increase Funding For The Land And Water Conservation Fund By $5 Million. In June 2019, Schweikert voted against 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: Schweikert 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, Schweikert 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]
2015: Schweikert Voted Against Reauthorizing The Land And Water Conservation Fund Through 2018 As Part Of The FY 2016 Omnibus. In December 2015, Schweikert voted against reauthorizing the Land and Water Conservation Fund. According to Congressional Quarterly, the legislation would have "reauthorize[d] for three years, through FY 2018, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which is financed primarily through fees from offshore oil and gas leases. [...] Under the measure, the House and Senate Appropriations committees would have to approve the use of the fund for acquiring lands using eminent domain, except for those in the Everglades National Park in Florida." The legislation was, according to Congressional Quarterly, a FY 2016 Omnibus Appropriations bill. The vote was on a motion to concur in the Senate amendment to the bill with an amendment. The House agreed to the motion by a vote of 316 to 113. The legislation was later combined with a tax extender bill. The Senate passed the larger measure and the president signed it. [House Vote 705, 12/18/15; Congressional Quarterly, 12/18/15; Congressional Quarterly, 12/15/15; Congressional Quarterly, 12/17/15; Congressional Actions, H.R. 2029]