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H.R. 7444

BillFederalHouseIn Committee
To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide rural partnership program grants and rural partnership technical assistance grants, and for other purposes.
About This Bill
Committee
Latest Action · March 8, 2024
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H1051)
Congress
118th (2023–2025)
Introduced
February 23, 2024
Cosponsors (2)
1D 1R
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Summary

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This bill establishes two new grant programs administered by the Department of Agriculture to support rural economic development. The Rural Partnership Program Grants provide two to five-year multiyear awards to coordinate federal, nonprofit, and for-profit investments in rural areas, with funding allocated to states based on poverty and population levels and at least five percent reserved for Indian Tribes. Eligible applicants must be partnerships of at least two entities such as local governments, nonprofits, cooperatives, for-profit businesses, universities, or tribes, and they can use funds for planning, coordinating federal initiatives, creating public-private partnerships, and supporting operational staffing. The second program, Rural Partnership Technical Assistance Grants, awards up to five-year grants to nonprofit and private intermediary organizations, including universities, to help rural communities develop grant applications, improve financial management, and build capacity for housing and economic development projects. Both programs require applicants to provide matching funds, though the Secretary can waive this requirement for economically distressed areas and tribal populations. The bill also expands and renames the existing Rural Partners Network to include additional federal agencies like the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Appalachian Regional Commission, and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and tasks it with streamlining federal assistance to rural communities. The legislation authorizes whatever funding Congress appropriates but does not specify an amount.

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