The Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program, which provides assistance to rural counties and school districts affected by the decline in revenue from timber harvests on federal lands, would be extended through fiscal year 2022 under a bipartisan bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA).
“Without this funding,” the congresswoman said, “people in rural, timber-dependent communities will get left behind.”
Rep. McMorris Rodgers on March 19 cosponsored the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act, H.R. 2099, with bill sponsor U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO) to extend the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000, which was introduced to assist counties containing tracts of federally owned land that are tax-exempt.
The SRS program provides payments derived in part through timber receipts and other leasing activities within national forests back to county governments where those forests are located, according to information provided by Rep. McMorris Rodgers’ office.
“The SRS program provides critical financial certainty to many of the rural counties here in eastern Washington,” said Rep. McMorris Rodgers, who added that extending the SRS program through FY 2022 would enable rural communities to continue funding “important infrastructure projects, public education, law enforcement, and other essential services.”
If enacted, H.R. 2099 “also includes important reforms to better support our counties and provide the additional flexibility needed to invest in rural broadband for our schools, setting our children up for greater success in the classroom,” she said.
H.R. 2099 has been referred to both the U.S. House Agriculture Committee and the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee for consideration.