Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, introduced legislation Thursday that would reinstate timber payments for rural counties for three years.

The bill, called the Secure Rural Schools and Payment in Lieu of Taxes Repair Act, would provide funding at 2011 levels, or roughly $360 million for more than 700 counties nationwide.

Wyden and Crapo co-wrote the 2000 law that created county payments as a way for rural counties to transition to new economies after logging on federal land decreased dramatically in the 1990s. The Secure Rural Schools legislation was reauthorized several times, but it lapsed last year, and without additional congressional action, counties will receive much smaller payments in 2015.

“County payments are a lifeline for cash-strapped rural communities that are already facing shortfalls to pave roads, keep teachers in schools and firefighters on call,” Wyden said in a statement. “This bipartisan bill keeps up the commitment the government made to support rural counties in Oregon and across the country.”

The bill would also reinstate mandatory funding for Payment in Lieu of Taxes, known as PILT, designed to compensate local governments with large amounts of federal land that does not contribute to the local tax base. The payments are currently funded but have to have money appropriated each year.

From The Bend Bulletin: https://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/2878344-151/wyden-introduces-bill-to-restore-timber-payments#