Republicans on federal land acquisition - from bad to worse

I have previously posted on the compromise reached between Rob Bishop (R-Utah0 and Raul Grijalva (D-Az) to permanently reauthorize federal land acquisition through the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The key word here is authorize. Actual funding would still occur in the annual appropriations process. That apparently is not good enough for the Republicans in the Senate, who want to make the funding mandatory, i.e., not subject to an annual appropriations bill. The spending would be mandatory, in effect creating another entitlement program.

Today's Politico reports:

House Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah), he of the compromise extending the Land and Water Conservation Fund, has a warning for his friends in the Senate - don’t try to make this spending mandatory. Bishop is a key player in trying to complete a reauthorization of the fund, which takes part of the money raised through oil and gas sales on federal land and then spends it on conservation projects. But making spending from the fund mandatory — as envisioned in a bipartisan Senate bill — would “probably blow it up in the House,” Bishop’s stance could add significant additional hurdles to the fund’s reauthorization. LWCF supporters prefer mandatory funding for the program because they say Congress chronically shortchanges it — creating a growing backlog of projects — and because the appropriations cycle has been so unpredictable, Anthony writes. A group of dedicated Senate LWCF backers led by Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) say they won’t let up in their quest to get the program reauthorized. "I believe we will ultimately win this fight because our colleagues know this is the right thing to do,” Burr said on the Senate floor. “We're going to be relentless." The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to mark up an LWCF reauthorization bill next Tuesday.