Congressman Stauber secures passage of SRS Bill sending money to rural schools

DULUTH, Minn. (Northern News Now) - Legislation bringing critical funding to rural schools including Northern Minnesota is now headed to the President’s desk for a signature.

Congressman Pete Stauber shared his support for the passage of the ‘Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act’ in the U.S. House Tuesday.

The bill provides funding to rural schools and counties that house large areas of tax-exempt national forests and federal lands.

Because these lands cannot be taxed, the SRS program delivers payments from management activities within the Forest service back to county governments.

Last year nearly $7 million from the SRS program helped Minnesota’s Eighth District maintain schools and invest in conservation projects in counties including Beltrami, Cass, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, L