Budget Committee Member Hooley Secures Funding for County Timber Payments in FY2008 Budget

Congresswoman calls it another victory for Oregon's Rural Counties.

Salem-News.com

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Today Congresswoman Darlene Hooley (D -OR-5), a member of the House Budget Committee, announced that she was able to secure funding for the reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act in the fiscal year (FY) 2008 budget resolution.

The budget resolution, which is expected to be reported out of the House Budget Committee tonight, creates a reserve fund in the FY 08 budget if the House votes to reauthorize the bill.

In 2000, Congress passed the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act to make up for the shared revenue that counties with timber lands lost to the decline of logging in national forests. Last year the Republican led Congress failed to reauthorize the Act, which directed more than $280 million to Oregon counties last year. The law expired in September; counties received their last checks in December.

Earlier this month Hooley joined with fellow Oregon colleagues Peter DeFazio (D-OR-4) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR-3) to announce that they had received a commitment from the Democratic Congressional leadership that funding for a one-year extension of the law will be included as part of the Emergency Supplemental that the House is expected to vote on later this week.

"We have been working to secure this money for Oregon's counties for over a year," said Hooley. "Two months into the new Congress under the Democratic leadership, our rural communities are finally seeing congressional action. It's wonderful news that money for these counties will be available through the emergency supplemental and reserved in next year's budget should the law be reauthorized."

Hooley is a co-sponsor of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Reauthorization Act of 2007, legislation which would extend the law through 2013.

Hooley is a member of the House Budget Committee where she has been working with House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt (D-SC-5) to include money for county timber payments in the FY08 budget, as well as House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-WI-7) and the Democratic leadership to have the funding included in the Emergency Supplemental funding bill.