A federal safety net that would help keep Jackson County's libraries open received overwhelming support in the U.S. Senate Wednesday under a proposed five-year, $5 billion program.
"We had a huge victory today — there is no underestimating that," said Jackson County Commissioner C.W. Smith.
The Senate voted 75-22 for emergency funding for more than 700 counties in 39 states that benefitted from the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act, passed in 2000 but not renewed last year. Jackson County would receive $23 million of the $425 million in the first year, about the same amount it received under the act.
In addition, counties would continue to receive money until 2011, but each year the amount would be ratcheted down by 10 percent in Oregon.
The county payments money is part of an appropriations package that President Bush has threatened to veto because it sets a timetable for troop withdrawal from Iraq.
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"We still have a series of hurdles to clear," he said.
Wyden told the Mail Tribune, "This vote today is a very significant step because the federal government said we're not going to walk away from our obligation to resource-dependent communities where the federal government owns a big part of the land."
The Oregon Democrat doesn't anticipate problems during the conference, but he said it will still require effort to keep the funding in the appropriations bill as it makes its way through the House, then to the president. He suggested that local communities continue to put the pressure on Washington, D.C.
"I really want to commend all the folks in Jackson County and throughout southwestern Oregon," said Wyden, referring to recent lobbying efforts. "They really did a great job of weighing in and mobilizing at the grass-roots level."
Explaining the long history of timber-dependent counties to some fellow senators also has been a challenge during the past several months, he said.
"The county payments are not welfare," said Wyden. "This is not a welfare program."
About 50 percent of the land in Jackson County is owned by the federal government and is not subject to local property taxes.
Before environmental regulations in the 1990s, Jackson County received a considerable amount of revenue from the sale of timber harvests.
Wyden said he wasn't sure when the legislation would receive final approval, but he expected it to be soon because the funding for troops in Iraq is expected to run out.
Commissioner Smith said it is too premature to discuss a timetable to reopen libraries after their closure at the end of the day on April 6.
"I've never anticipated the libraries would stay closed for long," he said.
If the county payments are reauthorized, Smith said the county budget committee will reconvene to discuss reopening libraries.
Commissioner Dave Gilmour said that if the money is reauthorized he will push for full funding of libraries and the reopening of all 15 branches as soon as possible.
He doesn't anticipate Congress or the president will take long in making the final decision on the appropriations bill because, he said, "Nobody wants to be seen as preventing money from going to the troops."
Gilmour is uncertain about the fate of a May 15 levy if the money comes through from Washington. "It puts it in a very awkward situation," he said. "It puts the people supporting the levy in a terrible quandary."
Sen. Gordon Smith, in a prepared statement, praised the Senate vote. "Congress has forged a bipartisan solution that would help keep schools open, roads safe and county workers on the job," he stated.
The Oregon senator, who was the lead Republican co-sponsor of the legislation, said that if payments to counties are being ramped down over the next five years, timber harvest should be increased so local counties can be self-sustaining.
"That should be the aim of any long-term solution," he stated.
Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476 or dmann@mailtribune.com.
