House passes extension on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis as part of transportation agreement; funding provides help for rural communities while Congress works on long-term solution to create jobs

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) today applauded House passage of a one year extension of county payments in the transportation agreement that he helped secure.

“The House today gave a lifeline to rural communities to keep essential services like law enforcement and schools up and running. The entire delegation worked together to get this done for Oregon,” Rep. Walden said. “We can’t rest now though—the clock is ticking. We will continue our bipartisan work on a long-term solution to create jobs in the woods to make our federally-forested communities self reliant once more for the long term.”

Once passed by the Senate and signed into law by the President, the law will provide about $100 million for Oregon communities.

“This short-term funding will allow counties to serve the people while Congress works on a long-term solution. It’s getting harder and harder to eke out extensions of this program, though. There’s a better way. We need a sustainable policy that works in our communities, works for our forests, and puts people back to work,” Rep. Walden said. “With this one year funding approved, we can now focus our full attention on passing our Oregon forestry reform plan with Reps. DeFazio and Schrader and the Natural Resources Committee.”

Earlier this year, Rep. Walden received a commitment from the highest levels of the House Republican leadership to secure this one year extension of county payments.