Oregon Public Broadcasting

A majority of U.S. Congressional representatives Thursday voted to extend the federal subsidy to rural counties in Oregon and other Western states.

But that wasn't enough.

Supporters needed a two-thirds majority to get the hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars in county payments extended. The money would have come from charging oil and gas companies a big royalty fee.

Springfield Democrat Peter Defazio says this vote means counties around Oregon must almost certainly cut their budgets next year.

Peter Defazio: “It's a very sad day for the counties. Even though they had a majority support in the U.S. House of Representatives, Republican mischief means that teachers are getting their contracts pulled, deputy sheriffs are being laid off, jail beds are being closed, prisoners are being released. It's a mess.”

Oregon Democratic Representatives David Wu, Darlene Hooley, and Earl Blumenauer voted for the subsidy.

But Defazio was very critical of Hood River Republican Greg Walden, who was originally a sponsor of the bill but voted against it.

Walden says Defazio tricked him by promising to bring the bill up with a different funding source.

Sixteen Republicans voted for the bill, including Washington Republican Dave Reichert - but they fell 70 votes short.