Press Releases

Washington, D.C. (August 27, 2013) – The U.S. Department of the Interior notified states yesterday that it will return over $100 million in mineral royalty payments to states as a result of lawmakers’ call for states to be rightfully paid under the Mineral Leasing Act (MLA). Western Caucus Co-ChairsSteve Pearce and Cynthia Lummis released the following statements in response to the news:

“I’m pleased that the Department of the Interior has decided to return the mineral royalties withheld earlier this year,” Pearce said. “It is unacceptable that a unilateral decision in Washington can so easily cut off millions of dollars that are the lifeblood of western states like New Mexico.  Western classrooms and communities should not suffer at the whim of DC bureaucrats. The Administration’s reckless and arbitrary handling of this issue has led to delays and uncertainty and I hope they will not attempt to withhold our rightful share of these revenues again.”

“We all knew that taking Wyoming’s rightful share of mineral royalties was wrong from the start,” Lummis added. “Thanks to careful legislative research, we prevailed in this case. Unfortunately, until we cut the middle man out if these transactions, we will always be vulnerable to the federal sharks swimming around Wyoming’s revenue.”