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Today, U.S. Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) released the following statement after calling on House leadership to reauthorize and fully fund the Secure Rural Schools and Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) programs:
“As counties across the United States work to balance their budgets, it is essential that Congress act to reaffirm the federal government’s long-standing commitment to public land counties by fully-funding Secure Rural Schools and PILT. Failing to take action and fulfill these long-standing obligations will leave counties and schools across the country without important resources they desperately need to serve their populations. It comes down to a simple choice for the federal government—either give rural communities the funds promised to us, or give us back our land.”
Background:
The Gosar led letter to House leadership calling on full funding for Secure Rural Schools for fiscal year 2016, fiscal year 2017 and beyond can be found HERE.
The Secure Rural Schools program provides crucial support for law enforcement, transportation infrastructure, and education in the more than 720 counties in 41 states that depend on revenue from federal forests. The program expired on September 30, 2015. Most counties have completed their budgets for the upcoming year and without this program, counties have been forced to cut vital services. As a result, funding for law enforcement, road maintenance and education has in many cases been reduced.
The letter was endorsed by: the National Association of Counties (NACo)
52 members of Congress signed the Gosar led letter including: Robert Aderholt, Dan Benishek, Earl Blumenauer, Suzanne Bonamici, Kevin Brady, Paul Cook, Jim Costa, Peter DeFazio, Diana DeGette, Suzan DelBene, Mark DeSaulnier, John Garamendi, Louie Gohmert, Bob Goodlatte, Paul Gosar, Raul Grijalva, Crescent Hardy Denny Heck, Jaime Herrera Beutler, Jared Huffman, Evan Jenkins, Walter Jones, Derek Kilmer, Ann Kirkpatrick, Raul Labrador, Doug LaMalfa, Doug Lamborn, Zoe Lofgren, Ben Lujan, Michelle Lujan Grisham, Tom McClintock, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Jerry McNerney, Martha McSally, Dan Newhouse, Kristi Noem, Steve Pearce, Jared Polis, Kurt Schrader, Mike Simpson, Kyrsten Sinema, Chris Stewart, Mark Takano, Glenn Thompson, Mike Thompson, Scott Tipton, David Valadao, Peter Welch, Bruce Westerman, Ted Yoho, Don Young and Ryan Zinke.
The letter to House leadership calling on full funding for PILT for fiscal year 2017 and beyond can be found HERE.
The PILT program has played a critical role in supporting our local communities by providing critical resources to nearly 1,900 counties across 49 states to offset lost property tax revenue due to the presence of tax-exempt federal lands within their jurisdictions.
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