Nine in ten persistent poverty communities in America are rural, but rural communities face barriers to accessing federal funding designed to help American communities thrive.
These barriers include volunteer local government leaders with limited time, fewer philanthropic organizations to help meet federal match requirements, and smaller tax bases due to smaller populations available to invest in local infrastructure.
On Monday, April 24th, Congressman Derek Kilmer and Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski addressed RuralOrganizing.org Education Fund’s network of rural leaders to discuss ways to redesign federal funding through this year’s Farm Bill to remove these barriers. Representative Budzinski announced her championship of the Rebuild Rural America Act, a bill that would give rural communities a new opportunity to access federal resources to rebuild their economies.
The Rebuild Rural America Act would follow the 2022 passage of the RECOMPETE Pilot program championed by Representative Kilmer as part of the CHIPS and Science Act, which will see its first funding become available in the near future.
The video below includes Congresswoman’s announcement of her intention to reintroduce the Rebuild Rural America Act and her commitment to rural economic concerns.
RuralOrganizing.org Education Fund is proud to have convened our rural leadership network in conversation with these two elected officials stepping out in fron in support for thriving rural communities.
