Safety Net still alive
By KPIC Web StaffMultimediaThe Senate Finance Committee has included a multi-year extension of county payments in a tax extenders package bill. The legislation is likely to be brought to the senate floor on Thursday, and would reauthorize county payments funding through 2011, if it passes. Senator Gordon Smith said Wednesday, "We are close to the finish line," and he said he would work with Senator Wyden to push the critical funding into law before it's too late. Douglas County is already well into the the fiscal year, minus the safety net funding, but Commissioner Doug Robertson said there is still a good chance that funding can be restored. "There is a lot of discussion, and reason for some very cautious optimism that something will move through the federal legislature before the end of the fiscal year." Robertson says the bill is a 4-year extension of the Secure Rural Schools Act, and he says its been close to passing before. But the problem in this case, is that if it passes the Senate, it goes to the Ways and Means Committee in the House. The chairman is Charlie Rangle of New York, who is in trouble with the IRS. Senator Smith is a member of the Senate Finance Committee, and has repeatedly urged the committee's chairman and ranking member to include a four-year extension of the county payments funding. It totals about 3.3 billion dollars in the energy tax package. |
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February 9, 2012
- Roseburg, Oregon
