Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) and Congressman Joe Neguse (D-CO), together with Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), are leading a bipartisan effort to reauthorize the Secure Rural Schools and Self Determination Act. The group sent a letter to House leadership urging quick action on the bill, which passed unanimously in the Senate in June. If enacted, it would extend the program through Fiscal Year 2026 and restore payments for 2024 and 2025.
The Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program’s funding ended in September 2023, with final authorized payments distributed to counties at the start of 2024. The lapse has affected rural communities across 41 states.
“. . . 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,” according to the lawmakers’ letter.
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 including SRS reauthorization in any end-of-year 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.”
The SRS program was first authorized by Congress in 2000 under legislation aimed at supporting counties with federally owned forest land exempt from taxation. It provides payments derived from timber receipts or other revenue-generating activities within national forests because these counties do not receive tax revenue from those lands.
Without reauthorization after its expiration last year, county payments defaulted back to an older law from 1908—resulting in up to an 80 percent reduction for some areas.
Doug LaMalfa has represented California’s First Congressional District since replacing Mike Thompson in Congress in 2013; he previously served both in California’s State Assembly (2002–2008) as well as its State Senate (2010–2012). He was born in Oroville, California in 1960 where he currently resides; he graduated from California Polytechnic State University with a BS degree.
