Oregon Public Broadcasting

Rural Northwest communities are one vote closer to seeing a renewal of a federal subsidy program that funds cops, roads, and schools.

The U.S. Senate Tuesday approved a four-year extension of the so-called County Payments program.

That’s a federal safety net designed to prop up communities that had relied on logging revenue logging.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Oregon Democrat Sen. Ron Wyden called the program critical.

Ron Wyden:  “Without the legislation, my view is we will see devastating losses to the very fabric of rural communities and Mr. President, some of those rural communities will not survive.”

The Senate measure now heads over to the House.  Last year a similar extension of the county payments program was trimmed from four years to one after it faced opposition in the House.