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County receives $29,959 for rural schools |
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Wednesday, 16 May 2007 |
Pondera County Received $29,959 through the Secure Rural Schools Program in 2006
Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, this week joined his House Colleagues in approving critical legislation to extend funding for the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act.
“A lack of federal timber sales has left many Montana communities high and dry in terms of funding for schools and transportation projects,” said Rehberg, a member of the House Appropriations Committee. “This legislation provides critical funding to replace that loss. I’m glad we were finally able to get an extension before Montana counties were impacted.”
The Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act, signed into law in 2000, provides an alternative source of funding to counties that were once dependent on timber sales from federal lands. At the time the law was passed, it was estimated to provide assistance to 700 counties in 39 states.
This one-year extension of the program passed as part of the Agricultural Disaster Assistance and Western States Emergency Unfinished Business Appropriations Act. Since it was authorized six years ago, the program has paid over $2 billion mostly to rural counties in the West.
“This program is critical to the essential services Montana’s rural communities rely on,” said Rehberg. “I’ll continue to work to provide a long-term reauthorization of this important legislation.”
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