Overview
Congress let the Secure Rural Schools program lapse in 2023, yanking a core revenue stream from more than 700 forested counties just as timber dollars were drying up. After two years of school layoffs, road delays, and sheriff cutbacks, the Senate and now the House have passed a bill to restore payments through 2026 and retroactively cover 2024 and 2025, sending it to President Donald Trump.
This isn’t just another line item. For some counties, SRS money is the sheriff’s entire budget or a school district’s lifeline. The fight over reauthorization is really a fight over whether Washington will keep paying the true cost of owning so much untaxed land in rural America—or keep pushing that bill onto sparsely populated communities with the least cushion.
Key Indicators
People Involved
Organizations Involved
Federal payments that replace lost timber revenue for counties hosting national forest lands.
County governments’ main lobby in Washington, central to the SRS reauthorization push.
Timeline
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House passes SRS reauthorization, bill heads to Trump
Legislative voteThe House approves the Secure Rural Schools extension through FY2026, with back pay for FY2024–2025. Gluesenkamp Perez, a key co-sponsor, hails the vote as “beyond overdue” for timber communities.
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Local coverage highlights broken promises and looming cuts
MediaAn Oregon Capital Chronicle story describes repeated Senate passage, House inaction, and districts like Klamath County planning without money they’ve relied on for a quarter century.
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Bipartisan bloc urges House leaders to stop stalling
Political pressureSens. Crapo and Wyden and Reps. LaMalfa and Neguse lead 80+ lawmakers in a letter warning that SRS counties have seen average cuts of 63% and lost at least $177 million since the lapse.
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Oregon counties warn they are “sinking” without SRS
Local impactAn Oregon Public Broadcasting investigation details sheriff layoffs, deteriorating roads, and fears of losing basic services as timber counties await SRS renewal and lose timber revenue sharing in a new budget law.
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Senate unanimously passes S.356
Legislative voteThe Senate approves S.356 by unanimous consent, sending the SRS extension to the House, where it is initially held at the desk.
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LaMalfa and Neguse launch House companion bill
LegislationReps. Doug LaMalfa and Joe Neguse introduce the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act in the House, joined by a bipartisan bloc including Gluesenkamp Perez.
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Crapo introduces Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act of 2025
LegislationSen. Mike Crapo files S.356 to extend SRS payments through FY2026, provide retroactive payments for FY2024–2025, and extend project authorities through 2028–2029.
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Final SRS checks go out under old authority
ImplementationThe Forest Service distributes more than $232 million in SRS payments for FY2023 to 745 counties, noting that the program is only authorized through 2023.
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SRS authorization lapses at end of FY2023
PolicyCongress fails to renew SRS beyond FY2023. Statutory authority expires, setting up a funding cliff for payments due after early 2024.
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Infrastructure law extends SRS through 2023
LegislationThe Bipartisan Infrastructure Law reauthorizes Secure Rural Schools for fiscal years 2021–2023, briefly restoring predictability after previous short-term extensions.
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Congress creates Secure Rural Schools program
LegislationPresident Clinton signs the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act, replacing unstable timber-receipt sharing with formula payments to forest counties for 2001–2006.
Scenarios
Trump Signs SRS Bill, Back Pay Starts Flowing to Rural Counties
Discussed by: National Association of Counties, AASA, Oregon Capital Chronicle, congressional sponsors’ statements
Given the bill’s unanimous Senate support and broad, bipartisan House vote, plus the relatively small price tag compared with other federal programs, the most straightforward path is Trump signing S.356. Treasury and the Forest Service would then have 45 days to send out back payments for FY2024–2025 and lock in FY2026, easing immediate budget crises for sheriffs, road departments, and school districts. The win would be framed as proof that Congress can still deliver for rural America, but with another cliff looming after 2026.
Short-Term Fix Becomes the New Normal, Counties Yo-Yo Every Few Years
Discussed by: CRS reports, county associations, long-run coverage in OPB and Oregon Capital Chronicle
Even if Trump signs this extension, nothing in S.356 makes SRS permanent or automatic. The pattern since 2006—short reauthorizations, last-minute brinkmanship, and occasional lapses—likely continues. Counties would again face uncertainty by 2026, forced to budget year-to-year and postpone long-lived investments. Analysts warn that this rollercoaster discourages local tax reform and economic diversification, while Congress prefers episodic “saves” that generate press releases without committing to a truly stable revenue-sharing system.
Congress Replaces SRS With a New Permanent Federal-Land Revenue Deal
Discussed by: Policy analysts at groups like the Center for American Progress, occasional Hill hearings on PILT and SRS reform
Some analysts argue that the repeated crises over SRS and related programs like Payments in Lieu of Taxes show the need for a unified, permanent formula that pays counties for federal land ownership without periodic brinkmanship. That could mean folding SRS into an expanded PILT-type program or indexing payments to local service demands, not timber history. This would require bipartisan agreement on new baselines and offsets and would invite scrutiny of how counties tax themselves, so it remains a long shot absent a broader budget or public-lands bargain.
Historical Context
2006 Expiration and Early SRS Reauthorization Fights
2000–2007What Happened
The original Secure Rural Schools law was written as a six-year bridge from 2001–2006. When it neared expiration, western counties warned of massive budget holes, and Congress wrangled over how long to extend it and at what funding levels, eventually passing short-term renewals rather than a permanent fix.
Outcome
Short term: Counties avoided immediate collapse but saw payments ratcheted down and tied to broader budget deals.
Long term: SRS evolved into a chronically temporary program, leaving rural budgets at the mercy of Washington cycles.
Why It's Relevant
Shows that today’s 2023–2025 lapse is part of a long-running pattern of brinkmanship rather than an aberration.
2013 Sequestration Cuts to SRS and PILT
2013–2014What Happened
Automatic federal budget sequestration sliced payments from Secure Rural Schools and the Payments in Lieu of Taxes program, even after checks had gone out. Agencies clawed back money from counties, and lawmakers rushed in with bills to shield SRS from across‑the‑board cuts.
Outcome
Short term: Counties suddenly had to repay part of funds they had already budgeted, forcing mid‑year adjustments.
Long term: The episode cemented SRS’s reputation as both essential and politically vulnerable, deepening demands for more predictable treatment.
Why It's Relevant
Illustrates how SRS can be collateral damage in national budget fights, echoing today’s struggle to get basic reauthorization through a polarized Congress.
Long Battles Over PILT: Paying Counties for Untaxed Federal Land
1976–presentWhat Happened
Congress created the Payments in Lieu of Taxes program in 1976 so the federal government could compensate counties for tax-exempt public lands. Like SRS, PILT has seen repeated funding scares, short-term fixes, and battles over whether payments should be mandatory or discretionary.
Outcome
Short term: Most years, Congress has found money to keep PILT going, but sometimes only after bruising fights.
Long term: PILT and SRS together form a fragile patchwork that underpins rural budgets where the federal government owns most of the land.
Why It's Relevant
Helps explain why forested counties view SRS reauthorization not as a bonus program but as part of a broader, unresolved question: who pays for the costs of America’s public lands.