Pinnacles NMon upgrade bill almost passes Senate in pre-recess parliamentary maneuver, but delayed at last minute
Sen. Barbara Boxer on Thursday almost engineered a surprise vote to upgrade the Pinnacles National Monument near Soledad to national park status. The park bill by Rep. Sam Farr, D-Monterey, passed the House unopposed on Tuesday. Senate passage by unanimous consent on the last day of work before the August recess would have been a major coup, sending the bill directly to President Obama for enactment.
The Pinnacles legislation has been blocked in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee by an unrelated partisan dispute over a Native American land swap in Alaska which has held up more than 60 public lands bills.