# Understanding the LASSO Act

The LASSO Act proposes a straightforward idea: take some of the money the federal government makes from public lands and use it to shore up Social Security. Specifically, the bill would direct 10 percent of revenue collected from activities on federal lands—like oil and gas leases, timber sales, mining permits, and recreational fees—into the Social Security Trust Fund each year. This money currently goes into the general Treasury or gets distributed to states and local communities.

The bill covers all lands managed by the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service, including federal lands on the ocean floor. So if the government collects $100 million from oil drilling leases, timber harvesting, or camping fees on public lands in a given year, $10 million of that would be redirected to Social Security. The idea behind this is to help address Social Security's long-term funding challenges without raising taxes or cutting benefits.

However, the bill includes important protections. It specifically says that the federal government cannot raise prices on activities like hunting, fishing, camping, or resource extraction just to generate more money for Social Security. It also guarantees that states, Native American tribes, and local governments won't lose any of the money they currently receive from public land revenues. In other words, the 10 percent going to Social Security would come from money that would otherwise go to the general Treasury, not from funds already promised to other recipients.

For most Americans, this bill would be largely invisible—it's essentially a bookkeeping change about where certain government revenue gets deposited. The main effect would be a modest boost to Social Security's finances, though experts would debate whether 10 percent of public land revenue is enough to meaningfully address Social Security's long-term solvency issues.

LASSO Act

Gosar, Paul A.

Land And Social Security Optimization Act or the LASSO ActThis bill requires 10% of revenue generated by public lands, including submerged lands on the Outer Continental Shelf, under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service to be deposited into the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, which is used to pay Social Security benefits to retirees and their families and to survivors of deceased workers.