House Denial

Timber Payments Denied To Rural West

Rural America felt a blow today when a bill that would have kept federal funding flowing was denied by the House. An Oregon senator was less than pleased by Thursday's outcome.

By Joseph Friedrichs, 6-05-08



	Caption: A sad day in Curry County and beyond.

A bill that would have continued to give money to Western schools, roads and public safety for the next four years was denied today by the House because Republicans sided with “already profit-rich oil and gas companies,” according to one Oregon senator.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., was vividly distraught when the timber program he diligently supported was denied by the House.

As a result of the bill’s shut down, many counties in southwest Oregon are about to lay off employees by the hundreds, DeFazio said, as reported by the Associated Press. In turn, rural counties across the country are likely to lose jail beds, sheriff patrols, teaching positions and other vital public-service jobs, DeFazio said.

The timber program helps pay for schools, roads and public safety in 700 rural counties in 39 states.

[End of article]

Comment By vagabond, 6-06-08

This article would be much more meaningful if there was information on just what the "timber program bill" was...

Comment By Becky J, 6-06-08

If you live in a county with National Forest land this means your taxes for roads and schools will go up and the services available to you will go down. We knew this day would come, but I don't think any of the counties that will be heavily affected are really ready to absorb this blow.

Comment By Serena, 6-06-08

Rep. DeFazio's bill would have extended guaranteed payments to formerly timber-dependent communities for 4 more years. The payments would have declined 10% each year so the counties had more time to figure out how to make do. Unfortunately, the way the bill was brought up virtually guaranteed a party-line vote, and we know how well that works. The problem with his bill that made it unpalatable was that it proposed revenue generation from offshore oil and gas leases. They would have to pay royalties that were not included in their original leases. Also, the bill was brought up under special rules which don't let anyone amend the bill. ALSO, these special rules require a two-thirds majority for passage. The vote on the bill was 218 to 193 in favor--not good enough. :-(

Comment By peter webster, 6-06-08

Let's be real clear: the Republican faithful will not vote for anything that will cut into the profit structure, or even create more paperwork for the oil companies. The ties between the Republicans and the oil companies are much more binding than between the petro-giants and the Democrats. Schools? Not important. County revenues? As long as the oil lobby money bags are available, too bad for the counties. It's disgusting

Comment By monty, 6-10-08

What sticks in my throat are the billions being spent on--Iraq-- a war of choice.

Comment By peter webster, 6-11-08

It's sort of like the goose that laid the golden eggs all over again, eh? The land was looted of natural resources that "should" have been self-sustaining. The timber companies had cut their own big old trees and then went after our's.

This article was printed from www.newwest.net at the following URL: http://www.newwest.net/city/article/timber_payments_denied_to_rural_west/C509/L509/