Summary
On April 4, 2014, the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Forest Service released fiscal year (FY) 2013 payments under the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program. These payments are awarded to rural counties for building schools and maintaining infrastructure. The FY 2013 SRS payments totaled $276 million, a -5.2% decrease from FY 2012. In addition, USDA has determined that FY 2013 payments were not subject to sequestration under the Budget Control Act (BCA). This Issue Brief provides a summary of the FY 2013 allocations and the application of BCA sequestration to FY 2012 and FY 2013 payments.