{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.risch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2017/10/crapo-risch-press-white-house", "Crapo, Risch Press White House to Extend Critical Lifeline Funding in Future Disaster Aid Funding", "2017-10-30", "2017", "2017-10", "Republican", "House", "ID", "Jim Risch", "R000584", "www.risch.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "RURAL COMMUNITIES NEED STABLE FUNDING TO KEEP SCHOOLS, LIBRARIES AND ROADS OPEN AND TO PROTECT THEIR COMMUNITIES FROM CRIME \r\nWashington, D.C.\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Idaho Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch joined a bipartisan group of western senators today in urging the White House and the White House budget office to fulfill the federal government\u2019s promise to rural communities by extending a critical lifeline that funds road repairs, schools and law enforcement in rural communities in any future emergency disaster supplemental funding bill it sends to Congress.\u00a0\r\nThe senators pushed for a two-year reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools and Self-Determination (SRS). SRS payments support public schools, public roads, forest health projects, emergency services and law enforcement in more than 700 counties across the country.\u00a0\r\nThe payments expired last year, leaving counties without certainty about how to fund these foundational services in rural areas.\u00a0\r\n\u201cWe have seen firsthand the hardships rural counties face as a result of SRS authorization lapsing. Without the certainty of SRS payments, schools, libraries, and jails will close,\u201d\u00a0the senators wrote\u00a0in a letter to Trump and Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney.\u00a0\u201cRoads go unpaved and become unsafe. Mental and physical health services are scaled back or even ended. Fewer and fewer law enforcement officers are forced to patrol larger and larger areas.\u00a0\r\n\u201cIn the interest of working together in a bipartisan way to support local rural communities, we ask that you and Director Mulvaney work with the Congress to include a reauthorization of Secure Rural Schools in any emergency disaster funding legislation,\u201d\u00a0they wrote.\u00a0\r\nThe lack of certainty about SRS funding comes at a time when rural communities in the West are also being hit by record-breaking fire seasons that have been exacerbated by the federal government\u2019s broken system of wildfire funding.\u00a0\r\nIn addition to Crapo and Risch, the other senators who signed the letter are Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Steve Daines, R-Mont., Jon Tester, D-Mont., Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Tom Udall, D-N.M., and Patty Murray, D-Wash.\u00a0\r\nIn May, a bipartisan group of senators, including Crapo and Risch, introduced legislation to extend the SRS program for two years. Senate cosponsors include: Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, Wyden, D-Ore., Feinstein, D-Calif., Heinrich, D-N.M., Merkley, D-Ore., Daines, R-MT., Tester, D-MT., Cantwell, D-WA., Udall, D-N.M., Murray, D-Wash., Murkowski, R-Alaska, Manchin III, D-W.V., Gardner, R-Colo., Sullivan, R-Alaska, Bennet, D-Colo., Baldwin, D-Wis., Boozman, R-Ark., Capito, R-W.V., \u00a0Franken, D-Minn., Heller, R-Nev., McCaskill, D-Mo., Rounds, R-S.D., and Sanders, I-Vt.\r\n\u00a0Read today\u2019s letter\u00a0here.", 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.risch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2017/10/crapo-risch-press-white-house"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9598368778824806, "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"}