U.S. House action puts Mineral County in $407,000 hole The ink was barely dry on Mineral County's 2009 budget before action by the U.S. House of Representatives left the county with a $407,000 shortfall. The federal payment into the county road fund has been over $400,000 each year since 2000, as part of the U.S. Forest Service payments to forest counties under the Secure Rural Schools and Communities Self-Determination Act. According to the budget documents provided by the Clerk and Recorder's Office, the county budgeted $407,000 for its road fund from the Forest Reserve Payment. Last year, it was the U.S. Senate that blocked reauthorization of Secure Rural Schools by just one vote. This past week, the Senate approved a multi-year reauthorization by a vote of 93-2, but the House yanked all funding from the bill the next day. Secure Rural Schools appears dead until the next Congress convenes in January 2009....