Senate Democrats on Thursday unveiled their plan to block future attempts to sell off federal lands via the budget reconciliation process, vowing to prevent a repeat of Republican proposals to dispose of up to 3 million acres of public lands last year.
Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced the “Public Lands Integrity Act,” which would designate the sale or disposal of public lands as “extraneous” under the so-called Byrd Rule. Heinrich is top Democrat on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
That rule — named after former Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd — bars the inclusion of nonbudgetary items from reconciliation bills, which pass under a simple majority in the chamber.
“Congress must never use fast-tracked Senate procedure to sell Americans’ public lands to fund short-term partisan spending. Not now, not ever,” Bennet said in a statement.
