Gillibrand promotes her community development-focused act proposed for new federal Farm Bill

Aug. 8—LOWVILLE — Farm Bill season is coming to an end and Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand stopped by Lewis County to talk about legislation she has introduced for inclusion in the omnibus law that will provide $50 billion over five years for grants supporting rural development.

About 50 people attended the news conference held at Double Play Community Center's expansion location on Route 12 in the town of Lowville on Tuesday morning.

"Our smaller, rural communities like this one play such an essential role across New York. They contribute to our state's health care, construction (and) education sectors, agriculture sectors, finance sectors — everything that is important for the community here is important for the community across the whole state," she told the group. "Too often federal economic policies have sidelined smaller communities and failed to support their unique needs."

The Rebuild Rural America Act of 2023 was introduced by the senator on June 22 and was forwarded to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.

Its stated goal is to "invest in rural areas ... to achieve their preferred future while maximizing their contribution to the well-being of the United States."

The act has been proposed for inclusion in the Farm Bill which is up for its every-five-year rewrite this year.

Through the bill, a new Rural Future Partnership Fund will be established along with the Rural Innovation Partnership Administration to oversee the program state by state.

"This is the kind of fund you can do long term, big projects of significance with," Gillibrand said, adding that the program is designed to allow local leaders access to funding to implement the programs that are most needed in their communities from infrastructure and schools to supportive housing, broadband and beyond to "spur economic development..."

In addition to general development opportunities, the program would provide a funding stream for ag-specific expansion, disaster mitigation and recovery, public health and quality of life programs,

The multi-year, flexible block grants will be planned and managed through partnerships "eligible technical assistance providers," including institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations or private organizations.

Because the program provides for a five-year renewable funding stream for regional objectives, Gillibrand said "It really incentivizes multi- year investments which is what's necessary for places like this — you can't do it all in just one year."

When asked what makes this program different from similar block grants like the Community Development Block grants that fund many programs in the north country, the senator said it has a much broader scope so that it can address the needs unique to every region of the country.

Despite the thin majority Democrats have in the Senate, Gillibrand said she believes the act provides something that is needed in all states, making her "optimistic" her proposal will make it into the massive Farm Bill.

"Rural development is necessary in all states — red, blue and purple — and so with the makeup of the people on the agriculture committee, I feel this will be a very widely bipartisan effort," she said. "It's a lot of money. It's $50 million but again, this is the only bill for rural development. Every bill touches on it, but this specifically rural development."

The Senate and House agriculture committees have been working on the Farm Bill since last year so it can be ready when the current bill expires in September, but the encompassing document that has far-reaching influences beyond agriculture is always hotly contested and expensive.

In February, the Congressional Budget Office projected the Farm Bill's baseline over the next 10 years to be about $140 billion per year, totalling $700 million for the next five years based on existing programs.

Before the news conference, the senator was given an update on the destruction caused by a tornado that touched down in Turin and Whetstone Gulf on Monday night by Lewis County Legislature Chair Lawrence L. Dolhof and County Manager Ryan M. Piche.