Rural schools, mostly in Southeast Alaska, are facing a major funding shortfall this year after the U.S. House of Representatives failed to reauthorize a bill aimed at funding communities alongside national forests and lands.<\/p>\n
The bipartisan Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act<\/a> was first passed in 2000, and enacted to assist communities impacted by the declining timber industry. It provided funds for schools, as well as for roads, emergency services and wildfire prevention. The award varies each year<\/a> depending on federal land use and revenues. The legislation is intended to help communities located near federal forests and lands pay for essential services. In 2023<\/a>, the law awarded over $250 million nationwide, and over $12.6 million to Alaska.<\/p>\n
But this year, the bill passed the Senate, but stalled in the House of Representatives amid partisan negotiations around the stopgap spending bill<\/a> to keep the government open until March. House Republicans decided not to vote on the bill amid a dispute around health care funding, a spokesperson for the bill’s sponsor, Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, told the Oregon Capital Chronicle, which first reported the story.<\/a><\/p>\n
Eleven boroughs, as well as unincorporated areas, in the Tongass and Chugach national forests have typically received this funding, awarded through local municipalities. According to 2023 U.S. Forest Service data<\/a>, some of the districts who received the largest awards, and now face that shortfall, include Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Sitka and Yakutat, as well as the unincorporated areas.<\/p>\n
The district is facing an over $500,000 budget deficit<\/a> this year, Burr said, and so the loss puts further pressure on the district.<\/p>\n
The schools in unincorporated areas known as regional educational attendance areas, received over $6 million<\/a> in funding through the program.<\/p>\n
Alaska Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan supported the bill through the Senate.<\/p>\n
Former Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola also supported the funding.<\/p>\n
• Corinne Smith started reporting in Alaska in 2020, serving as a radio reporter for several local stations across the state including in Petersburg, Haines, Homer and Dillingham. She spent two summers covering the Bristol Bay fishing season. Originally from Oakland, California, she got her start as a reporter, then morning show producer, at KPFA Radio in Berkeley. This article<\/a> originally appeared online at alaskabeacon.com. Alaska Beacon, an affiliate of States Newsroom, is an independent, nonpartisan news organization focused on connecting Alaskans to their state government.<\/em><\/p>\n