Sens. Lee, Crapo, and Risch Introduce MORE PILT Act

Mar 25, 2021

WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) on Thursday introduced the Making Obligations Right by Enlarging Payments in Lieu of Taxes Act, or MORE PILT Act. Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho) joined as original cosponsors of the bill. States, counties, and local governments are not able to collect property taxes on public land in their jurisdictions. The Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program was established in 1977 to provide funding to offset the absence of property tax revenue. Unfortunately, PILT payments have historically been a small fraction of what local governments would otherwise generate through property taxes, leaving rural communities in Western states deprived of crucial funds.

Sen. Lee, Colleagues Introduce U.S.-U.K. Free Trade Resolution

Mar 24, 2021

WASHINGTON – Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) today introduced a resolution recognizing the mutual history and special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom, and expressing the Sense of the Senate that the United States President should lay the groundwork for a mutually advantageous future trade agreement between the U.S. and the U.K.

Stopping Border Surges Act

Mar 24, 2021

I have read the accounts—so have many of you. A young mother from Honduras. Two young sisters from Guatemala. A six-year old child from El Salvador. They are all told by the local cartel that—for a price—a better life awaits them in America. They are told, as evidenced by those chanting “Biden!” at the border, that this new president has opened the borders, and amnesty is imminent. So “get in while you can.”

Sen. Lee, Colleagues Introduce Stopping Border Surges Act

Mar 23, 2021

WASHINGTON – Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Monday introduced the Stopping Border Surges Act, a bill to address loopholes in our immigration system which encourage vulnerable immigrant populations to take dangerous, illegal paths of entry into the United States. “Loopholes in our immigration system perversely compel women and children to entrust their savings, futures, and lives to cartels and coyotes – endangering the safety of vulnerable immigrants, and undermining the integrity of our system,” said Sen. Lee. “This bill would help stop these dangerous opportunities for abuse.”

Sen. Lee Reintroduces Protecting American Jobs Act

Mar 22, 2021

WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) today reintroduced the Protecting American Jobs Act, a bill that would strip the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) of its power to prosecute and adjudicate labor disputes. The NLRB, an independent federal agency consisting of five political appointees, was established to carry out the National Labor Relations Act. However, it has historically ignored traditional standards of due process, operated under lengthy and bureaucratic procedures, and caved to political pressures.

Sen. Lee Reintroduces Davis-Bacon Repeal Act

Mar 18, 2021

WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) reintroduced the Davis-Bacon Repeal Act Wednesday, a bill designed to repeal the wage subsidy law requiring all federally funded projects worth more than $2,000 to pay workers the “prevailing wage” rate on non-federal projects in the same locality. “The Davis Bacon Act exemplifies how big government hurts the people it purports to help, gives unfair advantages to favored special interests, and squeezes the middle class,” Sen. Lee said. “The Davis-Bacon Repeal Act would remove these government-imposed obstacles to economic opportunity facing low-skilled workers, and return wasted taxpayer dollars back into the hands of the American people.”

Sen. Lee Reintroduces CBO Show Your Work Act

Mar 18, 2021

WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) today reintroduced the “CBO Show Your Work” Act, legislation designed to improve the legislative process by making the Congressional Budget Office more transparent and accountable. “Congress does need a scorekeeper to provide budgetary estimates for the policy changes it considers,” Sen. Lee said. “But at a bare minimum, that scorekeeper should be forced to show how its models work, which the CBO doesn’t currently have to do. This bill would require the CBO to publish its data, models, and all details of computation used in its cost analysis and scoring, so that the American people and the economic community can see the math for themselves.”

Sen. Lee, Colleagues Call for Judiciary Hearing on Obama-Biden FTC’s Sweetheart Deal with Google

Mar 18, 2021

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) sent letters to Federal Trade Commission Acting Chair (FTC) Rebecca Slaughter and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) calling for a public Judiciary Hearing into recent revelations that the Obama-Biden FTC failed to enforce antitrust law in an 2011 investigation of Google and instead let the company off with a slap on the wrist. The senators call for testimony from Google executives and relevant FTC officials, including the former Commissioners who now represent big tech firms.

Utah Delegation, State Officials Welcome Interior Secretary Haaland’s Decision to Visit Utah

Mar 17, 2021

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), and Representatives Chris Stewart (R-Utah), John Curtis (R-Utah), Burgess Owens (R-Utah), and Blake Moore (R-Utah), Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, Senate President Stuart Adams, House Speaker Brad Wilson and Attorney General Sean Reyes issued the following statement in response to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s announcement of her upcoming visit to Utah to tour Bears Ears and Grand-Staircase Escalante national monuments.

Remarks on HHS Nominee Xavier Becerra

Mar 17, 2021

The stated mission of the Department of Health and Human Services “is to enhance the health and well-being of all Americans.” The HHS Secretary is thus charged with overseeing all government healthcare and social services, and protecting the health and rights of the American people. It’s a worthy goal, and an important job. Unfortunately, the history of the nominee before us, Mr. Xavier Becerra, poses grave concerns for carrying out this very goal, and for overseeing an agency with such vast, far-reaching responsibilities.