Rebuild Rural America Act

Reps. Antonio Delgado (NY-19), Cheri Bustos (IL-17), Angie Craig (MN-02), and Abigail Spanberger (VA-07) reintroduced the Rebuild Rural America Act in the House. This legislation would deliver federal resources directly to rural communities as they respond to, and recover from, the economic crisis caused by COVID-19. 

The Rebuild Rural America Act would establish a dedicated stream of federal funding for rural communities and provide guaranteed, multi-year, flexible block grants to support regional economic growth and recovery. Specifically, the Rebuild Rural America Act would do the following:

• Create a new $50 billion grant program, the Rural Future Partnership Fund, to provide non-competitive, five-year, renewable block grants to certified rural regions to implement locally-developed regional revitalization plans.
  • Funding will be allocated proportionally based on the population of each region, with an increased allocation for regions that include areas that have a poverty rate greater than 20 percent.
  • Eligible regions include those with a central community of 10,000 to 50,000 people, collections of rural census tracts or counties outside of regions with a central community of 10,000 to 50,000 people, and Indian reservations. States, in coordination with USDA, will certify the regions' participation in the program.
• Encourage rural regions to develop comprehensive, collaborative, and locally-driven community and economic development plans that revitalize infrastructure, provide support for public services and job training, and foster local entrepreneurship.
• Require interested rural regions to form a Regional Rural Partnership Council that brings together local leaders, elected officials, economic development organizations, cooperatives, higher education institutions, foundations, and other entities important to regional development.
• Empower rural community leaders by creating national capacity and training programs that will help connect the expertise and resources of the USDA and national and regional technical assistance providers with rural regions.
• Establish a State-by-State Rural Innovation and Partnership Administration to oversee this new program and offer hands-on help to local leaders.
• Launch a Rural Future Corps in coordination with AmeriCorps to assist rural communities with implementing Rural Partnership Plans and expanding critical services including childcare, health services, nutrition assistance, education, and job training.