October 26, 2023 3:00 a.m.

On Wednesday, Senator Ron Wyden applauded the Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining for holding a hearing on the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act.

It is bipartisan legislation that Wyden leads with Senator Jeff Merkley and Idaho Republican Senators Mike Crapo and James Risch.

Wyden’s release said the legislation would invest in rural communities across Oregon and the nation for essential services such as education, road maintenance, search and rescue, wildfire prevention and watershed restoration by reauthorizing the program through 2026.

Wyden said, “The Secure Rural Schools program has been a vital lifeline for rural counties in Oregon and nationwide, but lapses in Congressional action leave rural counties dangling on an annual fiscal cliff”. Wyden said, “Reauthorizing Secure Rural Schools is critical and necessary to support education, road maintenance, forest and watershed health, fire prevention, search and rescue, and other essential services in rural communities”. Wyden applauded ENR Subcommittee Chair Catherine Cortez Masto for aiding in the effort by holding a hearing on his bill. Wyden said, “Reauthorization of Secure Rural Schools is one step closer to the finish line”.

The release said since Wyden first authored the program in 2000, SRS has provided nearly $4 billion to Oregon counties. He called for the legislation to be reauthorized in fiscal year 2024.