Sponsors (12)
Introduced March 26, 2026 by Daniel Scott Sullivan · Last progress March 26, 2026
The bill makes multistate conservation grant funding more predictable and scalable by tying minimums to total appropriations and preserving administrative funding, but it creates planning uncertainty and risks both reduced large‑project funding when appropriations are low and greater federal cost pressure when appropriations are high.
State and local conservation programs will receive more predictable, floor‑protected multistate grant minimums tied to total appropriations so grant funding scales with program resources rather than remaining fixed.
The bill preserves an administrative set‑aside for the Department of the Interior, ensuring continued funding to process, oversee, and administer grants.
States and local partners could face uncertainty in near term planning because changes to allocation formulas and unspecified distribution language will require implementing guidance to clarify actual grant amounts.
If appropriations are low in a given year, tying multistate grants to a percentage could reduce maximum funding available for large projects compared with prior fixed caps, limiting scope of some regional conservation projects.
If the percentage‑based formula causes higher grant floors when appropriations are large, total program costs could rise and increase pressure on federal budgets, with potential implications for taxpayers or offsets elsewhere.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Alters allocation language for sport fish/boating/wildlife appropriations and sets multistate grants to the greater of 0.0375% of the appropriation or $200,000, replacing a fixed cap.
Changes how annual appropriations for sport fish restoration, recreational boating safety, and wildlife restoration are allocated by amending 16 U.S.C. §§ 777c and 777m(e). The bill replaces a fixed-dollar cap on multistate grants with a formula that sets each grant amount at the greater of 0.0375% of the appropriation or $200,000 and makes other textual substitutions affecting the distribution and an administrative set‑aside amount.