Washington, D.C. – Today, Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet applauded the extension of the U.S. Forest Service’s Secure Rural Schools and Self-Determination Program (SRS) through 2023 in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. This program, which helps fund essential services in rural communities that are home to federal land, expired in September 2020. The last payments under the current authorization were distributed in April 2021.
Bennet introduced legislation in February to reauthorize SRS through 2022.
“SRS is a critical program in Colorado,” said Bennet. “It not only provides certainty for rural schools, it helps support critical services in 43 Colorado counties. I’m glad the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act extends this vital program to ensure local governments have the resources they need to continue serving their communities.”
Bennet has long supported reauthorizing and funding SRS. In 2017, he introduced legislation to reauthorize SRS and secured a two-year reauthorization in the 2018 Omnibus Spending Bill. In 2018, Bennet and a bipartisan group of senators urged Senate leadership to include reauthorization for SRS in any end-of-year package. In 2019, he supported legislation that would extend SRS through fiscal year (FY) 2020. Later that year, Congress authorized SRS funding for FY19 and FY20.