Biden announced $5B in rural spending
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| On a farm near Northfield, Minn., on Nov. 1, President Biden will announce $5 billion in projects to advance rural prosperity, economic development, competition, and sustainability, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and White House officials said in a press briefing Tuesday. “A zipcode ought not to determine your economic future,” Vilsack told reporters, signaling what seems likely to be Biden’s theme in rural America during his re-election campaign in 2024. |
| Mitch Landrieu, the White House infrastructure implementation coordinator, followed up, saying the announcement will show that President Biden wants rural Americans “to have every opportunity.” “The Internet is no longer a luxury,” Landrieu said. “No kid should have to sit in the back of Mama’s car at McDonald’s to do their homework.” |
| Neera Tanden, domestic policy adviser to Biden, said the administration’s Investing in America program means “investing in all of America. Rural Americans should not have to leave their hometowns to find opportunity.” Vilsack said Biden’s appearance at Dutch Creek Farm near Northfield — the beginning of a two-week tour by Biden administration officials in rural America — would “celebrate investments in rural America.” Vilsack said Minnesota had been chosen to launch the tour because the state has been a heavy user of Biden administration projects and “understands and appreciates that the future is in biofuels,” including higher blends. The owners of the farm the president and Vilsack will visit have taken “full advantage” of a range of USDA programs and are among those that “already recognize the new income opportunities” the administration is promoting, he said. Later, in response to a question, Vilsack acknowledged that some of the spending Biden will highlight is not new, but the $1.7 billion in funding to support the adoption of climate-smart agriculture practices is new spending. The money for the $5 billion in projects comes from the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act, regular USDA appropriations and the Commodity Credit Corporation, the White House said. In addition to the $1.7 billion for climate-smart practices, the projects include: ▪ $1.1 billion investment across 81 projects through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, which takes a voluntary approach to expand the reach of conservation efforts and climate-smart agriculture through public-private partnerships. ▪ $1.1 billion in 104 loan and grant awards to upgrade infrastructure in rural communities “to bring new jobs, clean water and fuel, and reliable electricity to people in nearly every state,” the White House said. The infrastructure spending includes $5 million from the Inflation Reduction Act to further increase the availability of renewable biofuels. ▪ $2 billion across 99 economic development projects in Rural Partners Network communities in nine states and Puerto Rico — “funding that will create jobs and build infrastructure as well as increase access to quality health care, affordable housing, and clean water and energy,” the White House said. RPN was set up to put federal employees on the ground to help lower-income rural communities apply for federal programs, and today the administration will announce it is piloting a new resource clearinghouse function on Rural.gov. ▪ $274 million through 16 grant and loan awards to expand access to high-speed Internet for people living and working across eight states. This includes $260 million as part of the fourth round of the ReConnect Program funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provided a total of $65 billion to ensure every American has access to affordable, reliable high-speed Internet. In total, the Biden-Harris administration is investing $90 billion to deliver affordable high-speed Internet to everyone in America, including in rural communities that often lack access to high-speed Internet, the White House said. ▪ $145 million for 700 loan and grant awards through the Rural Energy for America Program to help agricultural producers and rural small business owners make energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy investments to lower energy costs, generate new income, and strengthen the resiliency of their operations. |
| Stephen Benjamin, director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, noted that other high-ranking administration officials will travel in rural America in the next two weeks. They include Agriculture Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McConough, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Housing and Urban Development Deputy Secretary Adriane Todman and Small Business Administration Administrator Isabel Guzman. In an analysis, Chris Clayton of The Progressive Farmer/DTN noted that the barnstorming tour shows that Vilsack “has apparently sold President Joe Biden on his whiteboard speech about diversifying farm income and the rural economy. The effort appears as an attempt to counter the fact that rural Americans are increasingly voting for Republicans in recent elections and criticism from conservative media outlets over issues such as inflation. Instead, the White House wants to highlight the increases in infrastructure and rural energy investments that have happened under Biden’s presidency.” |
