When Congress returns from its summer recess after Labor Day, it will have a narrow time frame to finish work before the November elections. With the clock ticking down, what are the odds that the body will pass the National Park Service Centennial Act?
While the House of Representatives has been working on the legislation, there is not a companion bill in the Senate. If the Senate receives the House bill in September and assigns it to a committee to study, will there be enough time for that chamber to produce a bill and then reconcile it with the House measure? Tough questions to answer at this point in the summer.
In its current draft version, among the items the House bill seeks to address are the following:
* Boost the cost of a lifetime Senior Pass from $10 to $80, the same cost for an annual America the Beautiful Pass. Language also is being considered to offer an annual Senior Pass for $20;
* Establish a Centennial Challenge Fund, which would require a dollar-to-dollar federal to private match, for signature projects to help prepare the national parks for the next century of public enjoyment;
* Create a National Park Foundation Endowment that would be funded, in part, by a yet-to-be-determined percentage surcharge on lodging stays, as well as bequests, gifts, and donations.
To help provide dollars for the Challenge Fund, fees from any Senior Pass purchases above $10 per pass would go to the fund, as the House legislation currently stands.
Comments
No matter what Congress may do, we all have to remain vigilant and watch out for all sorts of possible riders or amendments that might be sneaked into an appropriations bill.
http://www.taxpayer.net/media-center/article/fight-over-riders-returns-w...
Right now, Taxpayers for Common Sense says there are few currently tacked onto the bill, but I'm sure that Lisa Murkowski and the Utah delegation will try to slap some on, probably at the last minute.
The $10 lifetime fee ia a joke. At the very least make it unusable on holidays/ summer weekends. You cannot cry overcrowding when enticing the heaviest users with virtual no-cost entry
It will never happen. The Congress has too many other issues needing attention.
When I was a kid it cost nothing to go to any of the state or federal parks (or recreation areas) around vegas. Now it's $10 just to get into lake mead. I lived in socal most of my life and I never had the money or time to go on vacations like my parents did so retirement is the only good thing I'm looking forward to but $80 is pretty steep. And, I don't think congress is considering the economic impact that seniors bring to these parks and the areas surrounding them. The entrance fees are usually only part of the slew of fees that you pay in these parks. I can see gradually increasing the fees over time but to jump the fees %800 is insulting. Not very smart legislation.
"The Congress has too many other issues needing attention. "
Yeah. It takes a tremendous amount of work to ignore important things while squabbling over ideological nonsense. Then there's the constant begging (pandering) for campaign contributions to try to ensure enough money in the coffers to enable them to buy scads of TV ads and yard signs in hopes they can fool enough voters into reelecting them.
Poor folks. Living on the taxpayer dime is tough work.
Seniors must live on a fixed income as it is. The increase in Social Security is a joke. For goodness sake let this be ONE thing where they get a break. This is rediculous.
Will current Senior Passes be grandfathered (remain valid for lifetime) if the new $80 rate goes into effect?