Committee advances H.R. 9250 to extend Legacy Restoration Fund; rejects amendment to remove international visitor surcharge

A congressional committee on the markup of H.R. 9250 on June 25 advanced a bipartisan reauthorization of the Legacy Restoration Fund and rejected a proposal to remove a planned surcharge on some international visitors to national parks.

Chairman Wasserman Westerman opened the session by framing H.R. 9250 as a five‑year reauthorization of the Legacy Restoration Fund that would "encourage more public‑private partnerships, better prioritize deferred maintenance projects to visitor‑facing recreation assets, create new transparency and accountability requirements, and streamline project delivery." He said the proposals would expand access and support jobs, citing an estimate of "more than 72,000 jobs and over $6.4 billion in economic activity" tied to investments in gateway and tribal communities.

The committee adopted an amendment in the nature of a substitute (ANS) offered by the chair that, according to his remarks, aligns House language with bipartisan Senate changes and adds reporting, transparency and certain streamlining tools. The ANS also contains a provision authorizing the Interior Department to license certain intellectual property with proceeds directed to the Legacy Restoration Fund and includes targeted caps to better reflect deferred‑maintenance backlogs across agencies.

Representative Magaziner offered an amendment to strike the foreign visitor fee provision, calling the surcharge "unnecessary and arbitrary" and arguing it would harm gateway economies and tourism jobs. "For a family of four, that's an additional $400 just to visit one park," he said while urging colleagues to support his amendment and still support the overall bill.

Representative McClintock and others backed Magaziner's proposal, with McClintock warning that higher fees could divert tourism dollars away from U.S. gateway communities. Miss Dexter said the fees would send the wrong signal to foreign visitors and raised concerns about how visitor information might be used.

Ranking Member Huffman opposed the Magaziner amendment and defended the negotiated language in the ANS as containing guardrails: limiting the surcharge to visitors on tourist visas, giving sites flexibility to tailor fees, allowing suspension or modification by the agency, and requiring community engagement. "The ANS first retains an important definition that limits the fee to people visiting the United States on a tourist visa," Huffman said, adding that self‑attestation is included to avoid immigration‑style ID checks.

The committee held voice votes. The chair announced that "the nos have it" on Magaziner's amendment and that the amendment was not agreed to. The ANS was then adopted by voice vote and the committee voted to report H.R. 9250, as amended, to the House with a favorable recommendation; the motion to reconsider was laid on the table. Representative Hoffman gave notice of intent to file supplemental or minority views.

What the committee approved is a reauthorization of the Legacy Restoration Fund with added transparency and project‑selection measures; it does not itself appropriate new annual funding. Members emphasized that further appropriations and staffing decisions will be necessary to address deferred maintenance, and several speakers urged continued oversight as implementation proceeds. The committee adjourned with staff authorized to make technical and conforming changes to the adopted documents, subject to minority approval.