Congress today passed a transportation bill that includes a one-year, $346 million extension of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act – commonly known as the county timber payments law.

Thirty-three of Oregon’s 36 counties will receive a total of $102 million from the legislation to help fund county roads, law enforcement and schools. The extension represents a 5-percent decrease over funds distributed last fiscal year.

Tillamook County will receive about $600,000 of previously un-budgeted funding: nearly all of that will go to the county road department.

Eric Schmidt, spokesperson for the Oregon Association of Counties, said the payments will likely arrive in December.

The legislation passed the U.S. Senate on March 14 by a vote of 82 to 16. On Friday, June 29, the House passed it with a vote of 373 to 52.

“This is the fourth time since I wrote the original county payments law in 2000 that Congress has come down on the side of schools, roads and law enforcement in rural, natural-resource dependent counties,” Oregon’s U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden stated. “Maintaining the federal government’s historic obligation to rural Oregon and to rural America has always been my top legislative priority. The conference committee decision to include this extension means that this vital program will continue. $100 million to help stem the tide of layoffs, cutbacks and reductions in vital services in hard-hit rural communities could simply not have come at a better time.”

In 2000, Congress passed the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act to make up for the shared revenue that timber counties lost when logging in federally-owned forests was curtailed due to new environmental considerations. 

"I applaud the House for passing a bipartisan, fully paid-for transportation conference agreement negotiated by Senate Majority Leader Reid and Minority Leader McConnell," said U.S. Rep Kurt Schrader. "While not perfect, this extension gives Oregon's struggling timber counties, transit and construction companies and undergraduates the security they need to plan for their long-term success. Most importantly, these investments serve as a boost of confidence for  Oregon companies to invest, expand and create quality Oregon jobs now and later on down the road."