A recent Brookings Institution report revealed a trio of federal legislative packages, approved by the 117th Congress and signed by President Joe Biden, has made available more than $464 billion in funding to rural communities. Specifically, the report analyzed the opportunities created by the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the CHIPS and Science Act (CHIPS) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), examining the potential those opportunities have to impact the health and success of rural communities and the hardworking residents who call them home.
In addition to the $464 billion, about $24 billion in funding from the passage of the three laws was earmarked exclusively for rural areas. With tax incentives, tax credits and loan programs factored in the available funding has the potential to grow considerably higher.
This funding comes at a time when rural communities are still recovering from the financial impact of the Great Recession, along with the economic and emotional wake left by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The funding available between IIJA, CHIPS and IRA focuses on equipping communities with the means to invest in infrastructure improvements, clean energy and climate resilience initiatives, while also introducing new economic opportunities. Resource Rural, an initiative that serves as a hub for information related to federal funding opportunities for rural areas, has been charting the successful implementation of grant funding by rural communities for months.
Had the volunteers at a senior center in a rural Arizona town not received a federal grant to make improvements at their aging property, their twice-weekly canasta games might have been unbearably cold this winter.
“The sun beats in on you and the cold freezes you to death,” Dorothy Hughes, president of the San Manuel Senior Center said of the single-pane windows the center had before receiving grant funding. “We have nice, double-pane windows now in five of our windows. It makes our room so much warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.”
The funding allowed the group of seniors to implement a series of needed improvements that otherwise would have taken the volunteers years to realize. After all, their fundraising consists of collecting cans, sewing blankets and accepting $1 dues when seniors visit, all of which barely covers their annual insurance premium.
“It has meant a great deal to the community,” Hazel Cooper, the senior center’s 91-year-old treasurer, said of the grant funding. “We never would have been able to keep the senior center open without the grant, and we never would have been able to upgrade it.”
With fewer than 4,000 people, San Manuel resembles other towns across rural America, which is home to a small percentage of the country’s population but stretches to reach an overwhelming majority of the land. Put simply, rural America is everywhere, patched together by small, tight-knit towns that have at once unique and relatable characters and challenges.
Hughes and Cooper in San Manuel are just two examples.
On an Iowa farm, Wendy Johnson has utilized USDA funding through the IRA to improve conservation and diversification efforts on her family’s land.
Joanne Galloway has spent the last decade trying to improve internet connectivity in her rural Michigan town, which is situated on the east side of the state’s upper peninsula. A combination of funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and the IRA is making connection possible for her town and other areas of rural Michigan.
“We have to make sure that our communities, our rural communities, don’t get left behind,” Galloway said. “A portion of the funding has to come from federal investment…because there’s no extra money in these communities.”
On the southwest side of the state, Adam Schaller utilized Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) funds included in the IRA to add solar panels to his family’s manufacturing plant — allowing for cost savings and job creation. Rex Reilly cut costs and boosted his bottom line at his Montana cattle ranch by tapping into the same program.
“Now, our electric bill is $4 per month, so we’re pretty tickled about that,” Reilly said of the savings he’s seen from his investment in solar.
And in Missouri’s rural town of DeSoto, Susan Liley and the Citizens Committee for Flood Relief — which she organized — are using U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service funding made available through the IRA, along with Federal Emergency Management Agency funding made available through the IIJA, to help with flood mitigation efforts and improve community safety.
“We planted seven acres of prairie to collect some of the water during high rain and save the town,” Liley said. “So, that’s probably the one proudest thing I’ve ever done.”
Stories of impact are rooted in rural communities across the country, where local residents are utilizing federal funding in ways that improve their lives and economies.
Resource Rural will continue to tell those stories, with an understanding that seeing the successful implementation of federal grant dollars by rural communities may inspire others to take action.
The 117th Congress approved, and President Joe Biden signed, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), The CHIPS and Science Act (CHIPS) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which collectively included more than $1 trillion in immediate appropriations and close to $600 billion in authorizations.
