Senate Appropriations Committee Holds RCRC-Sponsored State PILT Legislation

This week, the Senate Appropriations Committee held Senate Bill 58, authored by Senator Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg), related to State Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT).  Sponsored by RCRC, SB 58 proposed an amendment to the Fish and Game Code restoring the mandatory nature of State PILT payments.

The 2015-16 State Budget Package changed the Fish and Game Code Section 1504 to make future State PILT payments permissive by changing ‘shall’ pay annually to ‘may’ pay annually.  SB 58 was introduced to return ‘may’ back to ‘shall’, effective January 1, 2019.

RCRC will continue to look for opportunities to address this issue even as we support the Governor’s proposed State PILT appropriation of $644,000 to the 2016-18 fiscal year.  RCRC’s ongoing advocacy efforts on behalf of State PILT can be accessed in the Hot Issues section of RCRC’s website.