WASHINGTON, DC Idaho Senator Larry Craig, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Forests and Public Land Management of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources, announced final Senate passage today of the "Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 1999", H.R. 2389. The bill by Craig and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) intends to compensate for the sharp decrease in federal timber sales, which were intended to bring in needed dollars to counties surrounded by national forest land.

The bill that passed the Senate today is the result of a negotiation between the Senate, the House, and the Clinton Administration to reconcile differences between the House passed bill and the Senate passed bill (S. 1608). The President has indicated that he will sign the bill passed by the Senate today.

"I am extremely pleased that the Senate today passed one of the most innovative, bipartisan education measures to protect children and schools in rural areas considered by Congress this year," Craig said. "Not only does this bill provide an annual funding stream for schools and county infrastructure, it also promotes collaborative projects on federal lands for the benefit of these rural communities and the environment. I am proud that our bipartisan solution has passed the Senate and can begin to help the funding crisis facing these counties."

Rural schools throughout the West and the country as a whole have suffered as federal forest lands have been beset with conflict, and as the receipts promised to counties for educational purposes have decreased dramatically.

The Wyden/Craig bill establishes a set payment amount with which counties can support rural school systems. This payment is based upon an average of representative years of timber receipts. Eighty-five percent of the amount is to be used to support schools and roads. The remaining fifteen percent is to be used to support cooperative projects on federal lands.

The bill also allows the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to use any available receipts to meet these payments, and only if these receipts fall short to make up the difference from unobligated funds in the general treasury.

The Wyden/Craig bill will now go to the House for final action.