Public Lands Integrity Act
Protecting Public Lands from Fast-Track Sales
The Public Lands Integrity Act is currently in the early stages of the legislative process. It has been sent to the House Rules and Budget committees for review. No further actions are scheduled at this time.
Legislative Progress
While the bill has support from both parties, changing the specific rules for how the Senate handles budget bills is very difficult and rarely happens through standalone legislation.
Key Points
- This bill changes how Congress handles federal land. It stops lawmakers from using a special fast-track voting process to sell or give away public lands. This ensures that major land deals cannot be hidden inside large budget bills that pass with fewer votes.
- Currently, certain budget bills can pass the Senate with a simple majority of 51 votes instead of the usual 60. This bill would label any plan to sell federal land as extra material that does not belong in those fast-track bills. This makes it much harder for the government to sell off public property without a full debate.
- The plan is supported by a bipartisan group of lawmakers including Vasquez and Ciscomani. They want to protect national forests and other public spaces from being sold off quickly to settle budget disputes. If this passes, any major land transfer would likely need 60 votes in the Senate to move forward.
- This change would apply to all federal lands across the country. It addresses concerns that public acreage could be sold to private interests or developers through procedural loopholes rather than through transparent public laws.
Impact Analysis
Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.
Milestones
Referred to the Committee on Rules, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.
Introduced in House
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
Votes
No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.
News
No related news coverage found for this legislation yet.
Source Information
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
Public Lands Integrity Act
Data Sources
Sponsor
Cosponsors
(5)Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.