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ENLARGE
Doug Robertson
How can we best describe the last two years of discussion and work on the federal safety net legislation? These are a few of the emotions I think everyone felt: frustration, hope, disappointment, confusion, and finally cautions optimism.
Last Friday, October 3, the House of Representatives passed HR 1424, The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. The bill has many provisions but is primarily designed to re-establish and stabilize the credit market in this country. The collapse of the housing market has caused a domino effect causing many of the major financial institutions to become insolvent. HR 1424 is designed to allow the federal government to buy troubled mortgages at a significant discount. This will allow banks and other financial institutions to sell long-term assets to gain short-term liquidity and begin lending again. Those mortgages the federal government purchases will gain value and be sold back to the private market thus paying back the $700 billion loan.
There are those who are skeptical of the plan and I am one of them. So much money so quickly in the hands of so few has caused everyone to be concerned. However, it had become evident that the United States government had to act. The world financial markets were on the edge of a meltdown and so Congress went forward. As many questions as there are, I think they did what they had to do.
So how does all of this impact Douglas County? The impact is enormous and here is why. When Congress came back from their August recess, there was another bill that had been under consideration for some time. It was known as the Tax Extender Package. It provided among other things, protection for millions of low- and moderate-income Americans from the alternative minimum tax. It also contained federal tax credits for continued research and development of alternative energy, like wind, solar, and biofuels.
Most importantly for us, it also contained a four-year extension of the Secure Rural Schools Act, the safety net. The passage of the safety net would mean the return of an average of $45 million of our tax dollars from Washington, D.C., for each of the next four years. It would help us rebuild our savings account and keep basic services at lower, but still acceptable levels.
Work began three weeks ago by many of us who have been involved on every level of government to bring the tax extender bill out of the House Rules Committee and make it part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. After many long days and sleepless nights, involving multiple contacts with every legislator’s office in Washington, D.C., and a continuous dialogue with the White House, the two bills were brought together as one. That bill, HR 1424 was the one passed Oct. 1 by the U.S. Senate, 74 to 25, and on Oct. 3, by the U.S. House of Representatives, 262-171. It wasn’t pretty, but it got done.
Now our challenge is to continue our work on a permanent solution to the county payments issue, which will have to involve, among other things, more responsible and reasonable management of our federal forestlands.
Doug Robertson is a Douglas County commissioner, vice president of the National Forest Counties and Schools Coalition and president of the Association of O & C Counties.
Last Friday, October 3, the House of Representatives passed HR 1424, The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. The bill has many provisions but is primarily designed to re-establish and stabilize the credit market in this country. The collapse of the housing market has caused a domino effect causing many of the major financial institutions to become insolvent. HR 1424 is designed to allow the federal government to buy troubled mortgages at a significant discount. This will allow banks and other financial institutions to sell long-term assets to gain short-term liquidity and begin lending again. Those mortgages the federal government purchases will gain value and be sold back to the private market thus paying back the $700 billion loan.
There are those who are skeptical of the plan and I am one of them. So much money so quickly in the hands of so few has caused everyone to be concerned. However, it had become evident that the United States government had to act. The world financial markets were on the edge of a meltdown and so Congress went forward. As many questions as there are, I think they did what they had to do.
So how does all of this impact Douglas County? The impact is enormous and here is why. When Congress came back from their August recess, there was another bill that had been under consideration for some time. It was known as the Tax Extender Package. It provided among other things, protection for millions of low- and moderate-income Americans from the alternative minimum tax. It also contained federal tax credits for continued research and development of alternative energy, like wind, solar, and biofuels.
Most importantly for us, it also contained a four-year extension of the Secure Rural Schools Act, the safety net. The passage of the safety net would mean the return of an average of $45 million of our tax dollars from Washington, D.C., for each of the next four years. It would help us rebuild our savings account and keep basic services at lower, but still acceptable levels.
Work began three weeks ago by many of us who have been involved on every level of government to bring the tax extender bill out of the House Rules Committee and make it part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. After many long days and sleepless nights, involving multiple contacts with every legislator’s office in Washington, D.C., and a continuous dialogue with the White House, the two bills were brought together as one. That bill, HR 1424 was the one passed Oct. 1 by the U.S. Senate, 74 to 25, and on Oct. 3, by the U.S. House of Representatives, 262-171. It wasn’t pretty, but it got done.
Now our challenge is to continue our work on a permanent solution to the county payments issue, which will have to involve, among other things, more responsible and reasonable management of our federal forestlands.
Doug Robertson is a Douglas County commissioner, vice president of the National Forest Counties and Schools Coalition and president of the Association of O & C Counties.
