Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. Photo: Monica Sandreczki
Jan 28, 2021 Senator Kirsten Gillibrand made a joint announcement with House Representative Antonio Delgado (NY-19) Thursday of their newly introduced bill in Congress that would bring more federal resources to rural areas of the country.
The Rebuild Rural America Act would set aside $50 billion dollars in block grants for rural regions, with larger allocations for areas with high poverty rates.
Gillibrand said that a federal program designed specifically for these regions will help to address the unique challenges they face. Too often rural communities can t access the federal grants and other public resources that could help them solve these problems because they don t have the same economic development organizations. They don t have the grant writers or the lobbyists that the larger communities can afford and have, she said.