Rural communities across Alaska will soon receive a total of $10,990,708 to fund schools and local budget priorities, through the Secure Rural Schools program, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said April 16.
The senator was successful in reauthorizing and funding the program through fiscal year 2019 in the fiscal year 2018 omnibus appropriations bill.
“Local communities in Alaska and across the country rely on the Secure Rural Schools program to pay for essential services such as schools and roads due to a decline in timber receipts and a lack of access to federally-owned forested lands,” Murkowski said. “Moving forward, we need a long-term solution that gets our forests working again to provide economic opportunities for the communities that depend on them.”
She cosponsored S.430, a bipartisan bill led by Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, to extend authorization of the Secure Rural Schools program through fiscal year 2020.
