{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/news-releases/fund-our-rural-schoolsmccaskill-calls-on-congressional-leadership-to-renew-secure-rural-schools", "‘Fund our rural schools’—McCaskill Calls on Congressional Leadership to Renew Secure Rural Schools", "2017-12-08", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "MO", "Claire McCaskill", "M001170", "www.mccaskill.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "\u2018Fund our rural schools\u2019\u2014McCaskill Calls on Congressional Leadership to Renew Secure Rural Schools \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t 29 Missouri counties saw more than $2 million decrease in Secure Rural Schools funding that hurt schools, infrastructure, public safety services \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tFriday, December 8, 2017\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWASHINGTON\u00a0\u2013 Continuing her advocacy for Missouri\u2019s rural schools and communities, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill has joined a bipartisan effort to restore Secure Rural Schools funding for communities surrounding Mark Twain National Forest\u2014to provide resources to support local schools, transportation, and public safety services.\r\n\u201cPublic schools are the beating hearts of our small towns and rural communities in Missouri\u2014and I\u2019m not about to let up in my fight to see them get the resources they need,\u201d McCaskill said. \u201cThere\u2019s a whole lot of noise and whole lot of must-pass legislation in Washington as the year comes to a close, but I\u2019m going to keep fighting to fund our rural schools and make sure our rural communities aren\u2019t forgotten and left on the cutting room floor.\u201d\r\nFunding for the Secure Rural Schools program expired in 2015, leaving more than 775 counties and 4,400 school districts nationwide with budget shortfalls, including 29 Missouri counties that are home to Mark Twain National Forest. As a result of the program\u2019s expiration, Missouri counties saw a more than $2 million decrease in their most recent payment.\r\nIn a bipartisan letter to Congressional leadership, McCaskill and 31 colleagues wrote: \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.\u201d\r\nSecure Rural Schools\u00a0was first enacted in 2000 as local governments faced steep reductions in timber revenue sharing. Current revenue sharing payments are no longer sufficient to support the services forest counties must provide.\r\nMcCaskill has\u00a0continually advocated for Missouri\u2019s rural communities\u00a0and called on this program to be fully funded. Despite\u00a0calls from McCaskill\u00a0and a bipartisan, bicameral group of colleagues earlier this year to fully fund the Secure Rural Schools program in the President\u2019s budget proposal, the Trump Administration included no funding for the program in its budget.\r\nFull text of letter HERE.\r\nVisit\u00a0mccaskill.senate.gov/rural\u00a0to learn more about McCaskill's fight to protect rural Missouri.\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 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.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/news-releases/fund-our-rural-schoolsmccaskill-calls-on-congressional-leadership-to-renew-secure-rural-schools"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 3.4982541110366583, "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"}