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Utah House adopts resolution pressing federal government on public lands, inserts reservation of rights
Summary
The Utah House passed House Joint Resolution 21 urging federal action on unappropriated federal lands to benefit public education and inserting language that Utah "fully and unconditionally reserves all sovereign and constitutional claims to its public lands." The resolution passed after floor debate and a friendly amendment.
Representative Barris, sponsor of House Joint Resolution 21, told the House on Feb. 17 that Western states have fallen behind in school funding in part because the federal government has retained large amounts of public land rather than disposing of it as earlier enabling acts contemplated. Barris outlined data he said showed Western states lagging in per-pupil spending and tied the issue to the state's school trust lands and lost natural-resource revenues.
The resolution asks the United States to allow Western states the option to select a portion of unappropriated federal lands in lieu of…
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