Bonners Ferry Local Guide including all of Boundary County Idaho

Idaho budget writers set aside backup money for rural schools

Thursday, March 22, 2007; IDST

Legislative budget writers Thursday set aside an additional $3.5 million to pay for rural schools next year, in case a federal bill to continue payments to counties hurt by cutbacks in federal logging fails to clear Congress. That would cover about 70 percent of the money Idaho schools would lose if Congress doesn't re-approve the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act. Concerns are particularly acute in the state's northern and central regions where U.S. Forest Service land makes up the bulk of the territory. The timber law expired last year amid concerns about Iraq War-related budget constraints and complaints over the funding formula. Idaho schools and local governments got about $21 million last year. State lawmakers from communities whose tax revenue has slipped amid a downturn in their timber-driven economies say the money is necessary to help keep local governments and school budgets afloat. "The federal government is not meeting its responsibilities," said Rep. George Eskridge, R-Dover and a member of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee who supported setting aside the backup money. "It's time for the federal government to step up." There's a bid in Congress to renew the package. Under a deal announced Tuesday by U.S. Senate Democrats, $2.8 billion would be used to extend the payments to local governments and schools through 2011. Another $1.9 billion would be directed to rural states through a proposal to fully fund the Payments in Lieu of Taxes program, which reimburses state and local governments for federally owned property. If the federal funding comes through, the $3.5 million in state money would revert to a roughly $100 million rainy day fund set up to help Idaho schools in case of a budget crisis. - Full Story