Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act of 2025

Floor Speech

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Ms. MALOY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act of 2025.

The Secure Rural Schools program, or SRS, is a lifeline for rural Utah communities.

When timber revenues from Federal lands declined, it threatened the ability of counties to fund their schools, roads, and emergency services.

Counties are responsible for providing these basic services, but what if they can't?

SRS steps in to fill that gap in counties with overwhelming Federal land ownership, counties that previously benefited from timber sales. With the majority of Utah's land federally managed, our counties cannot simply tax their way out of budgeting shortfalls.

The elected county commissioners in my district spend a lot of time getting creative and stretching the dollars they have as far as they can, and that includes working to get Congress to fund SRS. Kane County is 87 percent federally owned. Garfield County is about 94 percent federally owned, and Piute County is about 75 percent.

SRS recognizes that the Federal Government has an obligation to be part of the communities surrounded by the land it manages. Replacing lost funding is a step toward being part of those local communities.

This funding keeps schools staffed and keeps roads maintained. Our rural counties need the stability and fairness that comes with reauthorizing SRS. It matters a lot for Utah.

To be clear, rural counties, timber counties, would rather have the jobs that come with timber production and sound forest management, management for resource production. However, in the meantime, while we are fixing the policies that prevented that, SRS is essential for the rural counties.

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