U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), along with Representatives Doug LaMalfa (R-California) and Joe Neguse (D-Colorado), have led a bipartisan group of 89 lawmakers in urging House leadership to prioritize S.356, the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) and Self Determination Act. The bill, which received unanimous Senate approval in June 2025, would extend the SRS program through Fiscal Year 2026 and address missed payments for fiscal years 2024 and 2025.
The SRS program’s funding expired in September 2023, with the last authorized disbursements made to counties in early 2024. This lapse has affected rural communities across 41 states that rely on these funds due to their management of untaxed federal lands.
The letter from lawmakers stated: “. . . Counties and school districts across 41 states have seen a 63 percent cut in funding. This $177 million loss is devastating for rural communities, leading to school closures, delayed road and bridge maintenance and reduced public safety services. These are not abstract policy debates; they are tangible consequences for local governments and the communities that steward untaxed federal lands.”
Matthew Chase, Executive Director of the National Association of Counties (NACo), said: “Counties applaud Senators Crapo and Wyden and Representatives LaMalfa and Neguse for leading this bipartisan push to reauthorize Secure Rural Schools. With unanimous Senate support and strong bipartisan support in the House, the path forward should be clear: SRS keeps schools operating, roads maintained and public safety services funded in communities that manage vast federal lands, and must be reauthorized now. Given that more than 700 rural counties have been awaiting these payments since the program lapsed at the end of FY 2023, we urge House leadership to act expeditiously by passing the bipartisan, bicameral SRS package.”
Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, added: “Every public school student in this country should have opportunities and resources that are not determined by their ZIP code. Our students deserve access to a wide range of learning experiences that prepare them for the real world. Today, one in five public school students attends a rural public school. Rural students and the communities that support them need sustained investment. That is why we applaud the bipartisan, bicameral call for the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act and send it to the President for signature. Our nation’s rural students need this support to reach their full potential. We are grateful to Senators Crapo and Wyden and Representatives LaMalfa and Neguse for their steadfast commitment to rural communities, their families, and their students through their leadership on this important measure.”
Jack Waldorf, Executive Director of Western Governors’ Association, commented: “Western Governors appreciate the efforts of many leaders in Congress, including Senators Crapo and Wyden and Representatives LaMalfa and Neguse, to ensure rural communities will continue to have financial support for essential services. The Governors believe it is incumbent upon the federal government to ensure counties and states receive continued, predictable, and full payments under each of the three titles of the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program.”
The SRS program was first established in 2000 with legislation aimed at supporting counties containing federally owned forest land exempt from taxation. Payments help cover costs such as education programs, emergency response systems, road maintenance, bridge repairs, law enforcement activities like search-and-rescue operations or fire protection services—especially where timber receipts from national forests no longer provide significant revenue streams.
In Idaho alone last year $25 million was distributed among 34 counties through this initiative before authorization ended—helping fund schools as well as critical infrastructure projects needed by local governments facing unique budgetary constraints due mainly because large portions within those jurisdictions remain classified under national forest status rather than taxable private property.
Since expiration without renewal reverted county payments back onto an older formula dating from early twentieth century law related specifically toward timber sharing agreements—which represents about an eighty percent reduction compared with levels provided during recent years under original modernized statute.
