RURAL

Rural Blog -  A lack of support in the U.S. House to fund a 20-year-old program will leave rural schools in 41 states without vital money. Western states will likely feel the pinch first. "For years, the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act has sent hundreds of millions of dollars to counties with federal land within their borders," reports Alex Baumhardt of The Daily Montanan. "In the West, the money has largely helped keep county and school budgets whole following reduced logging and a reduction in timber revenue."

Although the Senate reauthorized the bill in November, the House failed to find a compromise to keep the bill funded, and it died without a vote. "Democrat Ron Wyden, who co-authored the original bill in 2000 said the failure to approve the money will create needless pain for rural communities," Baumhardt writes. "Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo, a Republican who worked with Wyden to get the bill passed in the Senate, said he shared Wyden’s frustration."