Senate rulekeeper blocks public lands sales — including in Colorado — from Republican budget bill

A provision that would mandate the sale of federal society lands across the West including in Colorado cannot be included in the Republican budget bill the Senate s nonpartisan rulekeeper has decided Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled late Monday that the sale of up to million acres of U S Forest Amenity and Bureau of Land Management property falls outside the scope of the rules for the Republican-drafted reconciliation bill according to a news release from Democrats on the U S Senate Committee On The Budget That means proponents of the sale must either attempt to rewrite the provision so it fits Senate rules or drop it from the budget bill Conservation groups cheered the expansion Tuesday morning This is a accomplishment for the American society who were loud and clear Populace lands belong in constituents hands for current and future generations alike Tracy Stone-Manning the president of the Wilderness Society mentioned in a message We trust the next politician who wants to sell off masses lands will remember that people of all stripes will stand against that idea Our community lands are not for sale The budget process in Congress is governed by a framework known as the Byrd rule that limits the types of provisions allowed in a reconciliation bill The rule limits the bill s provisions to those focused on revenue and spending rather than protocol Reconciliation bills are exempt from filibuster and therefore require only a simple -vote majority to pass Rule outside of the budget process requires at least votes to overcome the filibuster threshold More than million acres of federal masses land in Colorado would be eligible for sale if Congress passed the original version of the budget bill It mandated the sale of between and of the million acres managed by the BLM and USFS The proposal exempted certain lands from sale including national monuments wilderness areas national conservation areas national parks and national recreation areas Sen Mike Lee the Utah Republican who chairs the Senate Potential and Natural Tools Committee pitched the land sales as a way to generate revenue and make more land available for housing The populace lands sale proposal was met with outrage by conservation groups recreationists Colorado s Democratic delegation and several Western Republicans in Congress Related Articles Latest budget draft in Congress would put specific Colorado community lands up for sale These Colorado citizens lands could be eligible for sale under Republican budget bill Congress almost sold off acres of Western populace lands What could that mean for Colorado While the fight isn t over we ll keep using every tool to protect our citizens lands Colorado s Rep Joe Neguse posted on the social platform X formerly known as Twitter On Monday night Lee released major changes to his proposal including eliminating all Forest Institution land from achievable sales He also commented he would limit the BLM land available for sale to parcels within a -mile radius of communities Yes the Byrd Rule limits what can go in the reconciliation bill but I m doing everything I can to sponsorship President Trump and move this forward Lee reported on X Stay up-to-date with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter The Spot