Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Bill Introduced in House
This week, Rep. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), introduced the “County Payments Reauthorization Act of 2011”, H.R.3599, to reauthorize both the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) Act and the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program. The bill is a companion to S. 1692, the bipartisan Senate package unveiled in October.
The bill is a sharp contrast to draft legislation circulated by the House Natural Resources Committee in September that would fund SRS based on annual revenue requirements for each National Forest System unit. These revenue requirements would be derived from timber harvesting, grazing permits and other activities on national forest land. The Committee proposal has not yet been formally introduced, but the Committee may still consider the bill before the end of the year.
Specifically, H.R. 3599 would continue to ramp down the overall funding level at 5 percent per year starting at the current level of $364 million nationwide. California, a so-called transition state under the 2008 Act, would receive roughly $37 million in FY 2012 which represents a 46 percent decline from the highest payment year. PILT would be fully funded through 2017.
The SRS program expired on September 30, 2011 and the final payment to counties and schools will be sent out soon. RCRC strongly supports a long term reauthorization of SRS and PILT. RCRC joined the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) in commenting on both SRS proposals. The following are copies of those letters: Letter 1 and Letter 2.
For a copy of H.R., click here.