Growing Pains

Growing states have serious infrastructure costs. It's at this point in the growth curve that other states started realizing constitutionally-guaranteed benefits from the sale of federal lands (5% of the proceeds) and placement of those lands on the tax rolls (less than 25% of Utah's land contributes to the property tax -- which is a major funding source for public education). Congress decided, however, in 1976 to unilaterally breach its promises to the western states regarding disposal of federal lands, meaning we get 5% of nothing, the land never goes on the tax rolls, and we don't get full royalties for natural resources. Western states are beginning to approach Congress to provide a remedy for its breach. The need is vital -- as shown by the fact that 10 of the bottom 12 states at increasing education funding over the last 30 years are western states.