{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.gardner.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/gardner-joins-bipartisan-group-of-senators-to-urge-for-an-extension-of-secure-rural-schools-program", "Gardner Joins Bipartisan Group of Senators to Urge for an Extension of Secure Rural Schools Program", "2017-12-07", "2017", "2017-12", "Republican", "House", "CO", "Cory Gardner", "G000562", "www.gardner.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C.\u2014 Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) joined a bipartisan group of senators, including Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO), in sending a letter to Senate leadership\u00a0on Thursday\u00a0to call for the inclusion of a reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program in any end-of-year legislation. SRS supports public schools, public roads, forest health projects, emergency services, and many other essential county services for more than 775 counties across the country.\r\n\u00a0\r\n\u201cThe SRS program continues to be a critical safety-net for forest counties as we work to diversify rural economies, improve forest management and forest health, strengthen historic forest revenue sharing with local governments, and ensure that our forests provide a range of values such as clean water, jobs, and wood fiber for local economies,\u201d\u00a0wrote the senators.\u00a0\u201cIn the interest of working together in a bipartisan way to support local rural communities, we ask that you include a reauthorization of Secure Rural Schools in any end-of-the-year legislation. We appreciate your assistance with this matter.\u201d\r\n\u00a0\r\nThe SRS program expired on September 30, 2015, and it has not been reauthorized for Fiscal Year 16 or beyond. Forest counties and schools received their last authorized SRS payment in 2016. Without SRS, existing revenue-sharing payments are not sufficient to support critical services these counties must provide.\r\n\u00a0\r\nA copy of the letter is available\u00a0HERE.\r\n\u00a0\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.gardner.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/gardner-joins-bipartisan-group-of-senators-to-urge-for-an-extension-of-secure-rural-schools-program"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.689065946266055, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}