mr. chairman , i rise today in support of this bipartisan amendment , which would benefit counties and local governments in 49 states . 
the federal government makes pilt payments to counties that have federal lands to make up for the revenue local governments lose because they can not collect property taxes on the federal lands within their borders . 
congress has chosen to underfund these pilt payments -- leaving local governments in nearly every state with less funding for education , law enforcement , firefighting , search-and-rescue , and other services . 
in my congressional district alone , localities have lost over 48 million dollars in pilt funding because of inadequate appropriations by congress over the last ten years . 
the bipartisan amendment we are discussing today would bring the federal government 's payments for pilt a bit closer to the authorized funding level , helping local governments in 49 states . 
i encourage you to vote for this bipartisan amendment , which is a key step toward meeting congress ' commitment to our local governments . 
