Coalition: States need mineral royalties

Wyoming House Speaker Tom Lubnau has signed his name to a letter from a coalition representing lawmakers in 11 states that opposes the federal government’s withholding of some mineral royalties to energy-producing states as a result of federal budget cuts. “The Interior Department’s actions show a continued disregard of state’s rights and are designed only to maximize the negative impact on the American public by placing additional financial burdens on states,” the April 17 letter states. “The federal government is once again abdicating their responsibility and expecting states to bail them out.” The letter, which went to two congressional committees and an office in the Department of Interior, is from the Energy Producing States Coalition, of which Lubnau is immediate past chairman. “The solution is political,” Lubnau said. “And so as many political allies as we can gain, the more effective our political approach can be.” In addition to Wyoming, members of the coalition are from Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Mississippi, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin. Members are like-minded legislators and it’s the legislators who are members, not the states they represent, said Roger Barrus, the coalition’s chairman and a member of the Utah House of Representatives...more