CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2015–2016 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Joint Resolution
No. 5
Introduced by Assembly Member Dahle (Principal coauthor: Senator Vidak) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Bigelow, Dodd, and Waldron) (Coauthors: Senators Gaines and Nielsen)
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February 10, 2015 |
Relative to the federal Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AJR 5, as introduced, Dahle.
Federal Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000: extension.
This measure would urge the 114th Congress to reauthorize and fund the federal Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000.
Digest Key
Fiscal Committee:
NO WHEREAS, From 1908 to 2000, counties in the United States received 25 percent of the revenues generated on national forest lands in lieu of lost tax revenues that could have been generated had these lands remained in private hands; and
WHEREAS, In the 1990s, the volume and value of timber harvested on national forest lands was dramatically reduced, which led Congress to enact the federal Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. Sec. 7101 et seq.), which provided a six-year guarantee payment option that was independent of the revenue generated on the national forest lands; and
WHEREAS, The federal Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000, which has been extended several times, most recently by the federal Helium Stewardship Act of 2013 (Public Law 113-40), expired on September 30, 2013, which created a lapse in funding to critical programs in schools and counties across the United States, including California, in the coming years; and
WHEREAS, Rural schools are dependent on federal revenue-sharing programs, including federal forest payments, for maintaining vital educational services and programs, and to ensure a quality education for all students; and
WHEREAS, Many of California’s county public works programs will be crippled without stable, predictable, long-term funding from the federal act, causing the local road network to suffer long-term degradation and putting communities at risk for public safety emergencies due to cuts in staffing and operational activities; and
WHEREAS, A number of efforts have been made in the 113th Congress and are continuing to be made in both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate to reauthorize the federal Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California respectfully urges the 114th Congress to reauthorize and fund the federal Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 to provide a long-term, stable source of funding for schools and counties to maintain vital programs so as to avoid any interruption in county services and school operations; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the Senate, and to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States.