NW Lawmakers Call For SRS Reauthorization

Last week, Oregon's Cliff Bentz and Washington’s Marie Gluesenkamp Perez joined a bipartisan group of Representatives introducing the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act.  Supporters of the Act say the funding will support classrooms, expand opportunities for outdoor education, help retain and hire teachers, and equip students with hands-on learning resources.  The legislation would reauthorize SRS funds through FY2026.

The SRS program is a historically bipartisan lifeline for rural communities who rely on timber revenue that has been limited by federal action and are highly impacted by tax-exempt federal lands.  Since its enactment, SRS has provided $7 billion in payments to more than 700 counties and 4,400 school districts across 40 states.  However, Congress has repeatedly allowed SRS funding to lapse, creating uncertainty for rural counties as they budget for essential services.

“In rural communities like mine, blows to our timber economy have resulted in a loss of jobs, wealth, and people – but our Zip Code shouldn’t affect access to education for those who stay and hold the line out of love for their land, neighbors, and heritage. Across rural Southwest Washington, funding for public services is tied to our natural resources, and the Secure Rural Schools program has allowed us to address budget shortfalls as we have historically been prevented from generating timber revenue ourselves,” Representative Gluesenkamp Perez said. “While Washington, D.C. experiences an atrophy of awareness of what it’s like to live in rural America, this vital program is now running behind schedule. Our rural schools and counties have already faced decades of painful cuts to the basics, consolidating schools and considering four-day school weeks. Failing to reauthorize SRS would result in devastating losses of jobs, schools, and trades programs and hinder basic maintenance on our aging schools and roads. These impacts would be most acute in communities with large amounts of federal land, like Skamania County. I refuse to let federal inaction undermine rural opportunities for our kids – so I’ll continue to build bipartisan support for this critical legislation.”

"The Secure Rural Schools program provides essential funding to Oregon counties that are dependent upon Federal forests—ensuring their ability to provide critical services," Bentz noted.  "These services include infrastructure maintenance, wildfire mitigation, conservation projects, search and rescue operations, fire prevention initiatives, and, most importantly money for children’s education."

Click Here to read the Act in its entirety.

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