On February 20, Representative Jim Costa (D-Tulare) introduced the Rural Development Modernization Act (H.R. 7609), which would update and standardize how “rural” is defined across U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs.
The bill would establish a uniform population threshold of 25,000 residents for determining rural eligibility across USDA programs, replacing the current patchwork of statutory caps that range from 5,000 to 20,000. It also would require the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct an annual reassessment of the population threshold using Census and Office of Management and Budget data to ensure the definition remains current and reflective of demographic changes.
Full text of the bill is available here, and for a one-pager, see here.
For additional information, contact Mary-Ann Warmerdam, RCRC Senior Vice President, Government Affairs.