Crapo tries to revive rural schools program

The federal government’s Secure Rural Schools funding remains in jeopardy after it wasn’t reauthorized in late 2024.

When the current Congress began this year, Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo introduced the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act of 2025. The act was introduced Feb. 3 to extend Secure Rural Schools and Self Determination Act payments through fiscal year 2026. Those payments, along with Payments in Lieu of Taxes, have been “instrumental” to Idaho counties with limited revenue because they provide for schools, road maintenance, public safety and search and rescue operations, according to a news release from Crapo’s office.

While county governments can be funded through property taxes, land managed by the federal government can’t be taxed by local or state governments. To help offset losses from nontaxable lands, various laws have been enacted that provide payments such as Payments in Lieu of Taxes managed by the U.S. Department of Interior and Secure Rural Schools payments through the U.S. Forest Service, according to the news release.

The U.S. Senate unanimously passed legislation in November to extend the program but the House didn’t pass the legislation when Congress ended in December. New legislation must be introduced in Congress to extend the Secure Rural Schools funding, according to the news release.

The Secure Rural Schools expired in September 2023 and the last authorized payments will be issued March 2025. The payments needed reauthorization from the federal government to continue to assist rural counties, according to the news release.

Idaho received $26.9 million in 2023, the third-highest total in the U.S. after California and Oregon. Idaho County received the most funds with $6.8 million, $1.3 million was given to Clearwater County, Latah County received $188,591, Nez Perce County received $3,018 and Lewis County received only $4.73. Funds are administered by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management and are distributed based on a formula that includes economic activity and timber harvest levels. Funds are split into categories such as Title I for roads and schools, Title II projects on federal lands and Title III for county projects.

Payments in 2023 were distributed in April 2024. Congress reauthorized payments for fiscal years 2021-23, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

Nearly 80% of Idaho’s counties receive Secure Rural Schools payments because of the large amount of National Forest System land in Idaho, according to the news release.

“A lack of an extension of SRS (Secure Rural Schools) payments puts many Idaho counties in a very tough spot, forcing difficult choices about what critical services to cut,” the news release states.

The program is rooted in a policy from 1908 requiring the U.S. Forest Service to share 25% of its receipts with states for public schools and roads. The Secure Rural Schools program was enacted in 2000 by Crapo, a Republican, and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, to offset the loss of local shares of timber sales revenue, according to the news release.

“As I advocate for extending the SRS (Secure Rural Schools) program, we must also secure long-term solutions, such as strengthening revenue sharing with local governments by increasing timber harvests and restoration work on federally-managed lands,” Crapo wrote in the news release. “These reforms must be considered while Congress also enacts comprehensive economic reforms to control federal overspending, which has made it increasingly difficult to ensure the federal government meets its responsibilities to rural counties. I am urging the Senate and House to both take up this measure expeditiously, and remain committed to finding a viable long-term solution that provides more certainty to rural county governments.”