Mid-Year Highlights from
2005 Rural Development Legislation
By Ian Pulsipher
The National Conference of State Legislatures maintains a database of rural development legislation tracked throughout state legislative sessions, publicly accessible at NCSL's web site. As of July, 2005, NCSL has identified the following statistics, trends and highlights from state legislation across the country.
State legislators continue to focus on rural development issues during their 2005 sessions. By July, 2005, at least 39 states had considered 190 bills or resolutions to increase development in rural areas and communities. Of these, at least 22 states had enacted 48 pieces of legislation focused on rural development. Three areas that have received significant attention from state lawmakers this year as evidenced by enacted legislation are the traditional economic development focus of business assistance and incentives, efforts to improve rural health care and education, and the enhancement of current and future government organizations created to effect rural development.
Business Assistance
State economic development policy often involves financial and other assistance to existing businesses and those in formation. During the first half of 2005, the following measures were enacted to encourage economic development in rural areas by providing greater assistance to rural businesses.
Tax incentives continue to be used by states to stimulate business development in rural areas. Arizona Senate Bill 1335 established an individual income tax credit program of up to 12 percent of investments made in bioscience enterprises, or small businesses that are based in rural communities of the state. New Mexico's Rural Job Tax Credit program, designed to encourage employers to hire in specified rural zones of the state, was made permanent this session through House Bill 410.
Grant programs for rural community development were also created in two states in 2005. Nebraska established the Building Entrepreneurial Communities Act that will provide grants to rural communities for education and technical assistance to help local small business. Through passage of the Business Development for Disadvantaged Rural Communities Act, the state of Utah also created a grant program to assist disadvantaged rural communities in funding their various economic development efforts.
In addition, greater financing for agricultural enterprise in Washington was created through enacted Senate Bill 5092 that allows the State Housing Finance Commission to develop and operate a financing program for beginning farmers meeting criteria designed to ensure the repayment of loans.
Health Care and Education
This year, state legislators have also worked to ensure sufficient health care providers in rural communities and encourage an increased familiarity and awareness of rural health issues. An enacted resolution in Louisiana urges medical schools in the state to consider requiring clinical rotations in rural areas of the state for their medical students. Utah enacted Senate Bill 119 creating a rural medical residency training program to encourage physicians undergoing clinical training and residency components of their program to complete these in rural communities.
Further efforts at providing non-health related educational opportunities can also be seen in enacted legislation in 2005. To develop capable leadership in rural communities, North Dakota's legislature established a tax credit to facilitate tuition scholarships for participation in North Dakota State University's extension service two-year Rural Leadership North Dakota program.
Government Organizations
State legislatures also looked to develop greater internal government capacity to understand and confront challenges facing rural communities. During the first half of 2005, three states created new organizations for this purpose. Legislation in Georgia created a state Rural Development council, and the state legislature in Illinois created the Joint Task Force on Rural Health. In Oklahoma, the Rural Task Force to Access Capital and Financing for Business Development was established to study and report on issues of finance and business development important to the revitalization of rural communities in the state.
In addition to creating new government organizations, two states enacted legislation to further enhance their current government efforts related to rural development. Texas enacted Senate Bill 1686 to focus existing rural development government agencies on problem solving option for rural Texans. Virginia's House Bill 2027 requires the joint development and implementation of a rural economic development strategy by both state agencies and institutions of higher education. This bill specifies that this strategy is to address issues related to education, infrastructure, industrial development, recreation, agribusiness, and loan program for entrepreneurial activities in rural communities.
In addition to the three areas discussed above two other important topics of rural development that state lawmakers have worked on are combating methamphetamine-related crime, and providing access to high speed internet for rural businesses and residents. These two topics have been on legislative agendas in many states during 2003 and 2004 as well.
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