S1340SEP23

TheWeekInCongress.com

Week Ending September 23, 2005

S 1340 to amend the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act to extend the date after which surplus funds in the wildlife restoration fund become available for apportionment.

BRIEF

The report accompanying the bill explained, “Section 7 of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act of 1989 (NAWCA) amended the Pittman-Robertson Act to provide the authority to invest in interest-bearing obligations of the United States, and to use the realized interest to fund projects carried out under NAWCA. The authority to use these funds to support NAWCA is set to expire on September 30, 2005, unless extended.

Although NAWCA itself was most recently reauthorized in 2002, this funding provision was not addressed at that time, or during any other NAWCA reauthorization since 1989, because it did not affect whether the NAWCA program itself could be reauthorized, but rather specifies a particular source of funding to support the program and had not yet reached its expiration date. Since the original 1989 Act specified that the use of interest provision continued through the end of fiscal year 2005, Congress has needed to address an extension of this specific provision before this time. Through 2005, this funding source has provided $235 million, or approximately one-third of the Federal funds that have been devoted to NAWCA. This $235 million has attracted another $634 million in matching funds from other sources.”

Sponsor: Senator James Inhofe (R-OK)

Vote: Passed Senate by voice vote September 20, 2005

Cost to the taxpayers: No discernible cost.