Rep. Neguse, Sen. Wyden Introduce Bill to Provide Critical Support to Rural, Mountain & Tribal Communities

Statement

Today, Congressman Joe Neguse and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced a bicameral bill to prioritize support to rural, mountain, and tribal communities when allocating payments through the Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund -- a program enacted by the American Rescue Plan (ARP). The Secure Rural and Tribal Lands Act clarifies that the $2 billion appropriated to the U.S. Department of Treasury through the ARP for Fiscal Years 2022 and 2023 are intended for communities with federal lands.

"The historic enactment of the American Rescue Plan promised critical assistance to rural communities across this country, and our bill -- the Secure Rural and Tribal Lands Act -- ensures that the folks in our country's rural areas are receiving proper consideration throughout the allocation of these funds. Coloradans in our rural and mountain communities utilize these resources to fund local schools, improve road maintenance, and support emergency response operations -- and these allotments make all the difference," said Congressman Joe Neguse.

"I fought hard to establish this fund in the American Rescue Plan to help ease the financial burden faced by many rural communities and Tribes in my state and across America," Wyden said. "Our bill ensures this economic lifeline will be delivered for Oregonians counting on quality schools, dependable roads, and other essential services."

The bill prioritizes funding to communities that are recipients of Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) and Secure Rural Schools (SRS) funds. The PILT program provides federal payments to local governments to help offset losses in property taxes due to the existence of nontaxable Federal lands within their boundaries. And the Secure Rural Schools Program (SRS)--which is most often utilized to support rural schools, emergency response, and road maintenance--reimburses counties for emergency services in national forests and is instrumental in the development of community wildfire protection plans.

Read the bill text HERE.

Representative Neguse has long championed the expansion of the SRS program in Congress. Most recently, securing a $12,607,415 investment for rural and mountain communities in Colorado to support their public schools, roads, and other municipal services through the Secure Rural Schools Program through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. He also successfully fought for the overall reauthorization of the program the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act of 2021, which has now been enacted in both the 116th and 117th sessions of Congress.

Background

In 2021, Representative Neguse helped pass the American Rescue Plan, a robust piece of legislation that provided critical COVID-19 relief for struggling Americans through direct cash assistance, funds to ramp up vaccinations nationwide and help reopen schools, and support for the most hard-hit small businesses. The plan addressed both the public health and economic needs produced by the pandemic, ensuring that the federal government would assist struggling communities by providing the necessary infrastructure to help the country return to normalcy.

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