On July 15th, The National Association of Counties (NACo) adopted 125 policy resolutions at NACo’s 2019 national conference at Clark County Nevada. Commissioner Bell and I attended this national conference and learned that these resolutions will supplement existing NACo policy and guide the organizations advocacy during the 2019- 2020 term.
The NACo resolutions process provides members with the ability to participate in national policy decisions affecting local county governments. During the annual conference NACo’s ten policy steering committees and the general membership voted on these policy resolutions, and are good for one year until the 2020 annual conference, which will be held in Orange County/Orlando Florida.
One of the ten policy steering committees is the Public Lands Steering Committee. For two days, I sat in on these Steering Committee meetings in which 27 resolutions had some lengthy, and at times, lively, discussions. Many of these resolutions were State-specific, however a few resolutions did pertain to all states, and some to just western states.
There were a few proposed resolutions that I was able to give input that would directly impact rural counties like Fremont County:
Resolution on Amendments for Payment in Lieu of Taxes (Pilt) Side B funding – Establishing a minimum.
Resolution supporting Federal Public Land Agency funding.
Resolution to allow the public and public entities to comment on Wilderness characteristics cataloging and inventory by federal land management agencies.
Resolution regarding Wildland fire Regulations on policy.
Resolution urging Congress to update the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
Resolution urging Congress to support the return of 40% of Federal Mineral Lease Revenue to the County in which it was generated.
Resolution to require Federal Land Management Agencies to offset acquisition of new land to mitigate financial impact of impacted Counties.
These are a few examples of the resolutions that were discussed and voted on. These resolutions will then be presented to Congress from the NACo lobbyists.
A full list of all 125 policy resolutions can be found on the National Association of Counties website www. Naco.org.
Tim Payne
Fremont County Commissioner,
District One