Oregon Public Broadcasting

President Bush proposed his final budget to Congress Monday.  It included a surprise chunk of money for Oregon.

The county payments program got $200 million in the would-be budget.

That's about a quarter of what the Oregon Congressional delegation had asked for in last year's spending. The money is a federal subsidy for rural counties that used to depend on federal logging revenue.

Some county commissioners say they aren't sure if they support the trimmed-down version. They say they might hold out for more.

Republican Congressman Greg Walden represents many of the hardest-hit counties in southern and eastern Oregon. He says it isn't an either-or proposition.

Greg Walden: “It's both - we need the support from the federal government and we need to be doing more in the woods to create real jobs. I wouldn't turn it down if it's the only thing we have. Because it would be really easy for the people we're trying to persuade to support us to say, 'fine, if you don't like it we'll just move on' and we don't get anything.”

Walden says he also deserves some of the credit for a budget proposal to spend $36 million to finish deepening the Columbia River shipping channel.

Still, Walden said he wouldn't support the budget in its current form.

He says the budget cuts millions from key rural health care programs.