[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 96 (Thursday, July 1, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1499-E1500]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


         THE COUNTY SCHOOLS FUNDING REVITALIZATION ACT OF 1999

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ALLEN BOYD

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, July 1, 1999

  Mr. BOYD. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, along with my colleague 
Representative Nathan Deal, I introduced H.R. 2389, the ``County 
Schools Funding Revitalization Act of 1999.'' This legislation is based 
on principles that were part of a compromise agreement reached by the 
National Forest Counties & Schools Coalition. This bill is significant 
because it was developed not by a ``Washington knows best'', top-down 
approach, but rather through ``a home-grown'', bottom-up approach that 
has finally reached a consensus. This unique coalition includes over 
500 groups from approximately 32 states including school 
superintendents (including Hal Summers, School Superintendent of 
Liberty County, Florida Schools), county commissioners (including the 
Columbia County, Florida Board of County Commissioners), educators, 
several labor groups, the National Educational Association and the U.S. 
Chamber of Commerce.
  In 1908, the federal government recognized that counties with federal 
lands were at an economic disadvantage since the federal government was 
the dominant landowner in many of these communities and therefore these 
counties were powerless to tax these lands. Recognizing this, Congress 
entered into a compact with rural forest communities in which 25% of 
the revenues from National Forests would be paid to the states for 
impacted counties in compensation for their diminished local property 
tax base. By law, these revenues finance rural public schools and local 
road infrastructure. As one can imagine, these counties relied heavily 
on this revenue for education and infrastructure.
  However, in recent years, the principal source of these revenues, 
federal timber sales, has been sharply curtailed due to changes in 
federal forest management policy, and those revenues shared with states 
and counties have declined precipitously. Payments to many counties 
have dropped to less than 10% of their historic levels under this 
compact. This impact on rural communities and schools has been 
staggering. The decline in shared revenues has severely impacted or 
crippled educational funding, and the quality of education provided, in 
the affected counties. Many schools have been forced to lay off 
teachers, bus drivers, nurses, and other employees; postpone badly 
needed building repairs and other capital expenditures; eliminate lunch 
programs; and curtail extracurricular activities.
  Rural communities have also suffered from severe economic downturns 
causing high unemployment, domestic violence, substance abuse, and 
family dislocation. They are finding it difficult to recruit new 
business and to meet the demands of health and social issues associated 
with the displacement and unemployment. Finally, local county budgets 
have also been badly strained that communities have been forced to cut 
funding for social programs and local infrastructure to offset lost 25% 
payment revenues.

  This issue has had a significant impact on a large portion of the 
congressional district that I have the honor of representing in the 
House, which is the Second Congressional District of Florida. It is a 
largely rural district in Florida's panhandle that encompasses 19 
counties and two national forests, the Apalachicola and the Osceola. On 
May 18, 1999, Hal Summers, Superintendent of Schools in Liberty County, 
Florida, testified before the House Agriculture Subcommittee on 
Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition, and Forestry about the 
various effects that the loss of timber revenue from the Apalachicola 
National Forest has had on the children of Liberty County.
  Liberty County is a rural county with a population of about 7,000 
including 1,300 schoolchildren. That is the smallest county population 
of schoolchildren in the entire state of Florida. It has a total land 
area of 525,000 acres, 97% of which is forested, with half of that 
owned by the U.S. Forest Service within the Apalachicola. Until 
recently, the forest was the mainstay of a strong local forest product-
based economy, and through sharing 25% of the revenue from timber 
sales, provided substantial support for the local schools and 
government.
  In 1989, the Forest Service began to manage its land in a different 
way, mostly to protect the habitat for the endangered red-cockaded 
woodpecker. It is interesting to note that Liberty County has the only 
recovered population of this bird in the world. Perhaps the most 
significant thing about these changes is not the decline in harvest, 
but rather the fact that in 1998 the net annual growth of timber on the 
Apalachicola National Forest was about 800% greater than the volume 
harvested. The sawtimber growth is approximately 50 times greater than 
the volume harvested.
  The effects of timber harvest reduction on forest revenues to the 4 
counties and schools districts within the Apalachicola is that the 25% 
payments have declined in value from a 1987-93, 5 year average (in 1998 
dollars) of $1,905,000 to $220,000 in 1998; a loss of 89%. Due to this 
reduction, the Liberty County School District was forced to take 
several painful steps. These steps included reducing school staffing by 
11 positions out of a total of 151; increasing the average class size 
from 23 to 28 students; discontinuing the enrichment programs in 
health, computer education, and humanities; discontinuing vocational 
programs in industrial arts, small engine repair, and electronics (80% 
of the graduates do not attend college); curtailing the school media 
center; eliminating certified art and music teachers from the 
elementary school staffs; reducing the Pre-K program, formerly the only 
program in the state to serve all four-year olds; and terminating a new 
program in technology acquisition, which would have placed the county 
on par with other Florida school districts.
  The impacts on county government have also been very significant. The 
County road crew was reduced from 23 to 18 positions. This staff 
reduction, plus equipment obsolescence and the inability to purchase 
needed supplied and materials, has resulted in the deterioration of the 
rural road system. In 1994, the County was forced to float a $1,780,000 
bond issue in order to meet current road needs. It is unclear how the 
county will meet its future road responsibilities in the absence of a 
substantial increase in the 25% payments from timber sale receipts. 
County employees suffered a 10% salary cut, which was partially 
restored following the imposition of a 1% local option sales tax and 7 
cents per gallon gas tax. Finally, the Sheriff's Office and Emergency 
Medical Service have been forced to curtail hours and reduce services. 
As a result of this action, Liberty County remains the only county in 
Florida without an advanced life support system as part of the county 
emergency response organization.

  However, the most far-reaching and devastating impact of these 
declining revenues is the adverse effect on the future of our children. 
An education system crippled by such funding cuts cannot train our 
young people in the skills needed to join tomorrow's society as 
contributing, functioning citizens.
  In 1993, the Congress enacted a law which provided an alternative 
annual safety net payment system for 72 counties in the northwest 
region of the country, where federal timber sales had been restricted 
or prohibited to protect the northern spotted owl. This authority for 
the 1993 safety net program will expire in 2003. No comparable 
protection has been provided for the other 730 counties across the 
nation which receive forest payments. An equitable system of payments 
for all forest counties nationwide is needed to protect the ability of 
these counties to provide quality schools and roads and to allow the 
federal government to uphold its part of the compact.

[[Page E1500]]

  It is clear to me that the compact of 1908 is broken and needs to be 
fixed immediately. That is why I have introduced the County Schools 
Funding Revitalization Act of 1999. H.R. 2389 contains two main 
provisions. First, it would restore stability to the 25% payment 
compact by ensuring a predictable payment level to federal forest 
communities for an interim 5-year period. This temporary five-year 
payment program would be based on the average of the three highest 
payments received by a state in fiscal years from 1985 until this bill 
is enacted. This is obviously a necessary step to arrest the current 
destructive downward spiral. Secondly, the bill requires the federal 
government to collaborate with local community and school 
representatives as part of the Forest Counties Payment Committee to 
develop a permanent solution that will fix the 1908 compact for the 
long term.
  There are other options that have been proposed to address this 
problem, from decoupling forest receipt payments from forest management 
activities to legislating or mandating timber harvest. My view is that 
the welfare of schools and county governments cannot be artificially 
disconnected from the economic stability and social vitality of rural 
counties. I do not feel that either one of those options is a starter 
in this Congress. However, I truly believe that the consensus 
compromise that H.R. 2389 represents is the one possibility that could 
be passed.
  We, the federal government, must fulfill the promise made to these 
communities in 1908. In the part of the country where I come from, a 
man's word is his bond. Together, we can fix the compact and restore 
long-term stability to our rural schools and governments and the 
families that depend on them.

                          ____________________