WASHINGTON, D.C.- Idaho’s U.S. Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch celebrated the Senate’s unanimous passage of their legislation to reauthorize the U.S. Forest Service’s Secure Rural Schools and Self-Determination Program through 2026. Nearly 80% of the state’s counties receive these payments because of the large amount of National Forest System land in Idaho.
Crapo and Risch are calling on the U.S. House of Representatives to take up and pass the measure expeditiously to provide Idaho’s rural counties with these needed payments.
“The SRS program is a critical lifeline for many counties in Idaho and across the West,” Crapo says. “I encourage the U.S. House of Representatives to swiftly reauthorize this program to avoid any further disruption to much-needed county services.”
“SRS ensures rural communities can continue to maintain their schools, roads, and other essential services,” Risch says. “We must increase active forest management and restore historic revenue to timber communities. Until that happens, SRS must be authorized. I was proud to work with Senator Crapo to pass SRS reauthorization through the Senate and urge the House of Representatives to follow suit.”
Counties are still responsible for maintaining roads, bridges and schools, and SRS was enacted in 2000 to financially assist counties where the federal government does not pay property taxes. Under Idaho law, 30 percent of the SRS funding goes to counties to help with schools, and the remaining 70 percent is earmarked for roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects. SRS payments are critical to maintain education programs for many rural counties.
Crapo and Risch are long-time advocates for alleviating uncertainty for rural county governments in the SRS program. Congress has extended and amended the Secure Rural Schools program multiple times, and Crapo and Risch have continued to push for a long-term solution.
Oregon’s U.S. Senators, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, are also co-leads on the measure.
