U.S. House votes 399-5 to restore Secure Rural Schools funding; Rep. Bentz votes in favor of bill

WASHINGTON (KTVZ) -- The U.S. House on Tuesday approved on a 399-5 vote reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools program, has which sent millions of dollars to rural areas with large amounts of tax-exempt federal forests but had lapsed over a year ago. Oregon's only Republican in Congress, Rep. Mike Bentz, voted in favor of the bill, which passed the Senate several months ago.

Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., issued a statement applauding House passage of his bipartisan legislation introduced with Senators Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and James Risch, R-Idaho, to reauthorize the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program and ensure rural, forested communities across Oregon and the country receive funding for roads, schools, law enforcement and other critical services.

Here's the rest of that statement:

“The Secure Rural Schools program has been a lifeline for rural communities across Oregon since I originally authored the program back in 2000,” Wyden said.

“I’m relieved the House has finally done its job with the long-overdue passage of my bill to return the safety net for critical services to communities that need it the most. This is exactly why we need a permanent solution to get rural communities off the financial roller-coaster and ensure they have the resources they need to not only survive, but grow and thrive.”

“By passing our bipartisan bill, Congress has finally taken critical action to restore funding that is crucial to keeping schools and libraries open, maintaining roads, restoring watersheds, and ensuring there are police officers and firefighters to keep rural communities safe,” said Merkley.

“Extending the SRS program ensures Oregon communities and local governments can maintain access to these important lifelines and resources, and I look forward to President Trump swiftly signing our bill into law.”

Wyden first authored the SRS program in 2000. Funding for the program lapsed in September 2023, and counties have not received payments since early 2024. Wyden’s bill to reauthorize the program had previously passed the Senate in June, but stalled in the House, delaying crucial funding for rural schools, law enforcement, and infrastructure projects.

Last week, 83 bipartisan, bicameral members, led by Wyden and Crapo, called on House leadership to take up the reauthorization bill for final passage.

Congressman Bentz Supports House Passage of the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act

WASHINGTON, D.C.– Today, Congressman Cliff Bentz (R-OR) voted YES on Senate Bill 356, the “Secure Rural Schools (SRS) Reauthorization Act,” which will bring some $50 million, for each of three years, to Oregon’s timber-dependent counties.  

Said Congressman Bentz: “In 1990, the Spotted Owl was listed under the Endangered Species Act as a threatened species. Almost immediately timber production from federal forests in the Western United States plummeted by 80%. The economic and societal cost to timber dependent states and their timber reliant counties was appalling. Demand for SNAP and Medicaid shot up, alcoholism and meth addiction became routine. County tax revenues were decimated.

"A belated but needed response was the Secure Rural Schools Act first passed in 2000, 10 years after the listing of the Owl. This law, and the funding it provides, was designed to partially offset the massive decline in federal timber revenue. It provides a modest amount of funding for critical services including infrastructure maintenance (roads), wildfire mitigation, conservation projects, search and rescue operations, fire prevention initiatives, and most importantly, money for children’s education.”

“When society enacts socially attractive laws that seemingly benefit the broader public but end up harming small communities, society must mitigate that harm. This is what the SRS bill does. It mitigates at least a part of the billions in damage done to small communities by the implementation of social goals such as, in this case, the Endangered Species Act. I thank my colleagues and Speaker Johnson for supporting this essential bill and the funding that my counties so desperately need,” Bentz concluded.