Oregon U.S. Senator Ron Wyden pushed for the extension of Secure Rural School funds during a hearing on Thursday.
Wyden, a senior member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, highlighted the importance of providing financial security for rural communities in Oregon and nationwide, by ensuring long-term funding for schools, road maintenance, law enforcement and other essential services, according to a release from the Senator’s office.
The hearing was held to consider pending legislation on SRS and Payment in Lieu of Taxes programs. The bills are S.430, a two-year extension of the SRS program and S. 1643 which is the “Forest Management for Rural Stability Act”, which makes the program permanent by creating an endowment fund to provide stable, increasing and reliable funding for county services.
Wyden said his bills would make clear the “continued commitment to the link between forest management and the economic vitality of rural counties across the country”.
The SRS was originally co-authored by Wyden and was enacted in 2000 to help counties with public, tax-exempt forestlands. It has provided more than $7 billion in payments to 700 counties and 4,400 school districts in more than 40 states. In recent years, Congress has allowed SRS to lapse and decrease, creating massive uncertainty for counties as they budget for county services, according to the release.
A Wyden staff person told News Radio 1240 KQEN that here is no projection for when the legislation may receive further consideration.