Patty Judge is the former Lieutenant Governor of Iowa, and has also served as the Iowa Secretary of Agriculture and in the Iowa State Senate. She is a nationally recognized leader and lifelong Iowan.
Today, Former Lieutenant Governor Judge published an opinion piece in the Waverly Independent highlighting how ARPA has impacted rural Iowa Communities.
Judge writes,
This bill makes good on President Biden’s promise to invest in Rural America, and with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in charge of the USDA, we knew he could do it. Thanks to ARPA, Iowa has $210 million in federal funds to expand rural broadband, $100 million for housing infrastructure, and another $100 million for water quality infrastructure and nutrient reduction. Best of all, plenty of funds are going directly to schools and cities to immediately recover, without having to wait on the governor.
As Judge points out, with funds from ARPA, rural Americans have the tools and resources they need to create opportunities in their hometowns. This bill provides a great start to Biden’s commitment to improving economic resilience in rural communities.
