Last Friday, a bipartisan coalition of Senators, led by Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Jon Tester (D-Montana), and Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), sent a letter to Senate leadership urging for the reauthorization of the Federal Secure Rural Schools and Self-Determination Act (SRS) for Fiscal Year 2016. The SRS program is authorized by Congress to mitigate the impact to county governments and schools from the reduction of timber harvesting production on federal forest lands.
When first enacted, the SRS program provided nearly $60 million annually to California’s forested counties, with half of the funding dedicated to school districts, and the other half allocated to counties for county roads. While the program initially expired in 2006, it has been reauthorized multiple times since first enacted; although with each reauthorization the program has seen a reduction in funding. The SRS program was reauthorized early last year to provide roughly $30 million in both 2014 and 2015, and the program once again expired on September 30, 2015. California’s forested counties and schools located within those counties are dependent upon federal revenue sharing programs such as SRS for maintaining local roads and for providing vital education services. Unless the program is reauthorized, California’s forested counties will be faced with a $30 million funding reduction this year.
RCRC sends thanks to our partners at the National Association of Counties for organizing these efforts, and Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein for signing on in support of the reauthorization request. RCRC continues to advocate for reauthorization the SRS program to ensure that California’s counties can continue to provide critical programs and services in their communities.
The bipartisan Senate letter urging SRS reauthorization can be accessed here.