Press Releases

Washington, D.C. (March 27, 2013) – The Obama Administration notified states Monday that there would be significant deductions in federal mineral royalties paid to states due to the effects of the sequester. The decision to cut these payments come at a great cost to Western Caucus member states, who will bear 99.3% of the burden of these cuts, totaling $109 million. This money is used by states to finance K-12 education, highways funds, community colleges, and flood protection projects, among other things. Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Steve Pearce, and Western Caucus member and Republican Study Committee Chairman Steve Scalise released the following statements in response:

“The Federal government is trying to bow out of their commitments to states after failing to cut wasteful spending within the government,” said Pearce. “If I owned a rental property that I have leased out, and I collect rent from the tenant, I cannot turn around to the mortgage company and tell them that I had to make some cuts and won’t be paying my mortgage for the next stretch until I feel better about my financial situation. However, that is exactly what the Federal government is trying to do in this situation. The administration has decided to stop paying for services it is receiving, at the expense of Western states. Instead of cutting these critical payments to the state, why aren’t we cutting the President’s golf outings or luxurious government conferences? American families carry the responsibility of living within their means and honoring their commitments- the federal government should too.”

“Federal law is not a menu of options for the president to pick and choose which laws to abide by and which to violate,” Scalise said.  “Under current law, President Obama is required to send a percentage of the royalties from energy production to producing states like Louisiana, where our funds are dedicated directly to coastal restoration.  By withholding these royalties from Louisiana under the guise of the sequester, the president has crossed the line and is in clear violation of current law.  Rather than raiding Louisiana’s coastal restoration funds in violation of federal law, President Obama should work with us to cut real wasteful Washington spending that we have already identified.”