[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 118 (Thursday, August 5, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6898-S6899]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. LINCOLN:
  S. 3745. A bill to amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development 
Act to require the Secretary of Agriculture in the case of low-income 
States to use 95 percent of the national average nonmetropolitan median 
income for purposes of determining the eligibility of communities in 
the States for certain rural development funding; to the Committee on 
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
  Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, I rise today to offer the Rural 
Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2010. This legislation will help 
rural communities have better access to the funding available through 
the Rural Development programs administered by the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, specifically the Rural Water and Wastewater Program and 
Community Facility Program.
  As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and 
Forestry, I am strongly concerned that communities in low-income states 
such as my state of Arkansas have limited ability to qualify for grant 
funding through certain Rural Development programs due to current non-
metropolitan median household income requirements. The structure we 
have today creates barriers for many of our poorest rural communities 
that are most in need. Some of these rural communities have median 
household incomes well below the national average, yet they are 
ineligible for any grant funding because USDA applies the State's non-
metropolitan median household income to funding formulas instead of the 
national median household income.
  This structure creates disparities for many low-income rural States. 
For example, in Arkansas, a rural community with a median household 
income greater than the State's non-metropolitan median household 
income of $31,845 is ineligible for grant funding through the Rural 
Water and Community Facility programs. Rural communities in Arkansas 
who meet all of the other eligibility requirements for funding through 
these programs are ineligible for grant funding simply because of their 
low median income level. In fact, 45 States have a higher non-
metropolitan median household income level. The legislation I am 
introducing today is designed to even the playing field for low-income 
rural communities in Arkansas and several other States.

[[Page S6899]]

  Forty-eight percent of my home State's population lives in a rural 
community. The programs offered through USDA Rural Development are 
vital to our efforts to meet basic needs and foster economic 
development. Without the types of key infrastructure improvements that 
can be made through these rural development programs, it will be 
difficult for many of these communities to reach their full potential 
and prosper.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill he 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 3745

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Rural Infrastructure 
     Improvement Act of 2010''.

     SEC. 2. MEDIAN INCOME REQUIREMENT ADJUSTMENT.

       Section 306 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development 
     Act (7 U.S.C. 1926) is amended by inserting after subsection 
     (b) the following:
       ``(c) Median Income Requirement Adjustment.--
       ``(1) In general.--If the Secretary applies a median income 
     requirement to communities for purposes of determining 
     eligibility for the community facilities programs and water, 
     waste disposal, and wastewater programs authorized under this 
     section and sections 306A, 306C, 306D, and 306E, in the case 
     of a State for which the State nonmetropolitan median income 
     is equal to or less than 90 percent of the national average 
     nonmetropolitan median income, the Secretary shall use an 
     amount equal to 95 percent of the national average 
     nonmetropolitan median income in applying the median income 
     requirement for any community in the State.
       ``(2) Termination of authority.--The authority provided by 
     paragraph (1) terminates on September 30, 2012''.
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