The House voted Tuesday to approve the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act, which funds a lapsed program that sends money to communities surrounded by federal land to make up for lost timber revenue.
These counties can’t levy property taxes on federally owned land, so the funding helps make up for the gaps in funding they face relative to similarly situated municipalities.
Congress let the program, which was first established in 2000, expire. The counties received their last payments in early 2024, forcing many of the counties dependent on the program to shrink their budgets.