Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act of 2025

The law extends and modifies the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000, which provides federal payments to states and counties that contain federal land — land that cannot be taxed locally, reducing revenue for schools and roads. It extends the formula-based payment program through FY2026 and includes a special rule for FY2024 and FY2025 payments, directing the Secretary of the Treasury to distribute them no later than 45 days after enactment. Counties that already received prior-year 25-percent or 50-percent payments will have those amounts offset against the new payments to avoid double-payment.

The law also extends the authority of resource advisory committees to propose and initiate special projects on federal land through FY2028, extends counties' authority to expend their share of project funds through FY2028, and makes minor technical corrections to the underlying statute — fixing punctuation and a cross-reference dating error.

States and counties — particularly in the West and South — that contain substantial federal land holdings and receive payments under the Secure Rural Schools program. Local school districts and road agencies funded by those payments are directly affected. Resource advisory committees that oversee project spending, and the timber and restoration contractors performing approved projects, are also reached by the extended project authority.

Rural counties with large federal land holdings depend on these payments to fund schools, roads, and other services in place of property-tax revenue they cannot collect from non-taxable federal land. The retroactive FY2024–2025 payment provisions address a gap caused by the program's prior lapse, and the multiyear extension through FY2026 and FY2028 gives local governments the budget certainty needed to plan spending.

The Secretary of the Treasury is required to make all FY2024 and FY2025 payments within 45 days of enactment, automatically applying offsets for 25-percent or 50-percent payments already distributed to eligible counties. For FY2024 and FY2025, counties carry forward the payment-allocation elections they made for FY2023, eliminating a re-election process. Resource advisory committees continue to operate under existing composition and project-approval rules through the extended deadlines; counties may initiate and expend project funds on the extended timeline through FY2028 and FY2029 respectively.