This bill reauthorizes through FY2026 and modifies the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program as well as a pilot program that allows regional foresters to appoint members to SRS resource advisory committees.
Under the existing SRS program, states and counties containing federal land may receive payments from the Forest Service or the Department of the Interior respectively for schools and certain other municipal services. The bill extends the authority of the Forest Service and Interior to (1) calculate and provide payments to states and counties under the SRS program through FY2026, and (2) initiate projects using funds provided by the program through FY2028. It also extends the deadline to obligate those funds until the end of FY2029.
Additionally, the bill expands the pilot program to allow regional foresters in all states, not just those in Montana and Arizona, to appoint members to the advisory committees in their regions.
Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S6531; text: CR S6531)
Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 354.
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Manchin with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 118-163.
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Manchin with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 118-163.
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 118-311.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Bill text & related measures
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Explore the bill from different angles
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Neutral evidence review
Objective
Analyze S.2581 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact
Progressive lens
Examine S.2581 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope
Conservative lens
Examine S.2581 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power
Liberty lens
Examine S.2581 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.