President Obama's Fiscal 2010 Budget

Standing With Rural America

The President’s 2010 Budget seeks to usher in a new era of responsibility – an era in which we not only do what we must to save and create new jobs and lift our economy out of recession, but in which we also lay a new foundation for long-term growth and prosperity. To do this, the Nation must address some of the deep, systemic problems that have been ignored for too long by making critical investments in: education so that every child can compete in the global economy, health care reform so that we can control costs while boosting coverage and quality, and renewable sources of energy so that we can reduce our dependence on foreign oil and become the world leader in the new clean energy economy.

At the same time, we also must restore fiscal discipline, making sure that we invest in what works and do not waste taxpayer dollars on programs that do not work or are duplicative. Taken together – education, health care, clean energy, and fiscal discipline – are the pillars upon which we can build a new foundation for our economy, a foundation that bring opportunity and growth to all Americans in all corners of our country for decades to come. The budget will:

Support rural economic development.  The budget invests $61 million in five key Rural Development programs – the rural micro-entrepreneur assistance program, rural cooperative development grants, value-added producer grants, grants to minority producers, and cooperative research agreements.  This support will provide much needed assistance to farmers working to expand their market opportunities.

Support rural revitalization and education. America’s land-grant institutions, through research, training, and extension, provide important support for rural communities today while helping to plan for a better future. The budget proposes an additional $70 million for rural revitalization of which $42 million will enhance education.  Of that amount, $7 million will be provided to minority serving institutions with the remaining $35 million to secondary and post-secondary schools and grants for purposes such as hiring instructors, curriculum design and materials development, and other capacity building.  The remaining $28 million will be provided to enhance rural quality of life by developing improved computer education opportunities for rural Americans and assisting agricultural producers cope with occupational stress.

Fight rural crime. The budget provides $298 million for COPS Hiring Grants, half of which will benefit communities with populations of 150,000 or less, many of which are located in rural areas. This funding will help advance the Administration's goal of hiring 50,000 police officers nationwide. Taken together with the $1 billion in Recovery Act-related funding for COPS Hiring Grants, this program will fund the hiring of more than 7,000 police and sheriffs deputies in 2009 and 2010.

Improve rural health.  Access to quality doctors close to home is a major challenge for people living in rural communities.  The budget provides $73 million to improve both the access to and quality of health care in rural areas, strengthening regional and local partnerships among rural health care providers, expanding community-based prevention interventions, and promoting the modernization of the health care infrastructure in rural areas. At the same time, the President’s plan invests in the National Health Service Corps to address the shortage of health care providers in underserved areas and gives doctors, nurses, and dentists incentives to practice in these regions.

Develop and strengthen rural broadband, telecommunications, and electric services. The information superhighway too often seems to bypass rural America. The budget provides $1.3 billion to increase broadband capacity and improve telecommunication service. More specifically, the Agriculture Department’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) programs provide loans for rural electrification, telecommunications, and broadband, and grants for broadband and distance learning and telemedicine (DLT). The budget includes $6.6 billion in direct electric loans for distribution, transmission, and improvements to existing generation facilities, $690 million in direct telecommunications loans, $532 million in broadband loans, $13 million in broadband grants, and $30 million in DLT grants.

Expand rural homeownership opportunities. Housing affordability and realizing the dream of homeownership are central to supporting a community.  The Department of Agriculture’s Rural Housing Service (RHS) offers direct and guaranteed single family housing loans and grants to help very low- to moderate-income rural residents buy and maintain adequate, affordable housing.  The budget provides $6.2 billion in loan guarantees to support about 56,000 rural homeownership opportunities in 2010.   In addition, the budget provides $1.1 billion in direct loans to support about 10,000 low-income homeownership opportunities in rural America. The budget provides $25 million for HUD Rural Innovation Fund. This initiative is a targeted set-aside within the larger Community Development Block Grant account.  These funds will be provided to states through a competitive process to promote innovative and cost effective approaches to improving housing conditions in rural communities. 

Promote rural America’s leadership in developing renewable energy. America’s homegrown, renewable fuels can help to break the country’s reliance on oil. The budget invests an additional $250 million in grants and loan guarantees to support energy efficiencies and increase the national supply of this renewable, American-made power supply.

Encourage young hunters and anglers. The President is keenly aware of the important role that hunters and anglers play in the conservation of the nation’s wildlife and natural habitats.  The Administration seeks to forge a broad coalition to address great conservation challenges, and America’s hunters and anglers play an important part.  To help preserve the traditions of hunting and fishing shared by families across the country, the budget provides $30 million to help states establish creative programs and strategies to encourage young people and minority populations to responsibly hunt and fish.  In addition, the budget provides $20 million to expand opportunities for youth education including internships to instill environmental awareness.   

Enhance food safety and expand support for organic farming. When people question the safety of America’s food supply, America’s farmers suffer.  The budget invests more than $1.8 billion to ensure meat, poultry, and processed egg products are safe, wholesome, and accurately labeled and packaged.  The budget provides resources to improve food safety inspection and assessment for meat and poultry and the nation’s ability to determine meat and poultry risks.  The budget includes over $1 billion in resources to protect all other food products through expanding prevention, intervention and response activities.  In addition, the budget nearly doubles funding to $6.7 million for the National Organic Program (the group that provides accreditation to the certifying agents) which will increase the speed at which farmers can get their certification and increase the accuracy and consumer confidence in the organic program.

Provide critical support for family farmers.  Family farmers are critical both to America’s rural communities as well as America’s economy.  The President’s budget promotes efforts that strengthen small- and medium-sized farms, providing stability and predictability that too often is missing today. In addition, the Budget provides farmers with protection from market disruptions and weather disasters. 

Protect our nation’s forests. The President is committed to protecting and restoring our national forests.  The budget provides a $68 million increase for national forest operations to protect natural resources and maintain facilities and infrastructure. It also fully funds the 10-year average suppression costs including a $282 million discretionary funding contingent reserve when the $1.1 billion appropriated 10-year average is exhausted. In addition, the budget includes $120 million in Forest Service funding through the Land and Water Conservation Fund including a $34 million increase to acquire easements on forested lands under significant development pressures.

Support conservation. The budget funds several vital conservation programs through USDA including $1.9 billion for the Conservation Reserve Program to fund a signup of 2.8 million acres in 2010, and $1.2 billion for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program – a $133 million increase over the 2009 level – to fund over 40,000 new contracts.   The budget fully funds new 2008 Farm Bill programs including $447 million for the Conservation Stewardship Program and $43 million the Chesapeake Bay Program.

Improve rural access to the aviation system.  The Administration is committed to maintaining small communities’ access to the National Airspace System. Currently, Essential Air Service (EAS) subsidizes carriers to provide service to select small airports. The Budget provides $175 million for EAS, $52 million above the 2009 enacted level, to fulfill current program requirements as demand for subsidized commercial air service increases.  The Budget also acknowledges that the program design is out of date and not cost effective.  The Administration has committed to develop with Congress a more sustainable program to fix these flaws.

Enhance outreach and services related to mental health care and cognitive injuries with a focus on access for veterans in rural areas.  Conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury present major challenges in caring for our Nation’s veterans.  The President’s budget expands the mental health screening and treatment services offered by VA and focuses on reaching veterans in rural areas.  VA will increase the number of Vet Centers and mobile health clinics to expand access to mental health screening and treatment in rural areas. In addition, new funding will help veterans and their families to stay informed of these resources and encourage them to pursue needed care.