Outrage: Obama Withholds Mineral Royalties to States, Citing Sequester

The Obama administration sparked outrage when it announced on Monday that it was withholding $110 million mineral royalty payments that are owed to states and counties due to the sequestration.

“The Budget Control Act of 2011, passed by Congress, mandates across-the-board, automatic 5.1 percent sequester reductions,” said Office of Natural Resources Revenue spokesman Patrick Etchart. “By law, revenue payments to states are not exempt from the sequester. Cumulatively, approximately $110 million will be withheld from states and counties where energy production occurs on federal lands during the remainder of the current fiscal year.”

Western states will feel the brunt of the cuts in royalty payments — 99.3 percent of it, according to the Congressional Western Caucus. This is money that goes towards financing projects such as K-12 education, highways, community colleges, and flood protection.

The Federal government is trying to bow out of their commitments to states after failing to cut wasteful spending within the government,” said New Mexico Republican Rep. Steve Pearce. “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.”

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