YourVoice.Now Summary
Average Household ImpactCounties that are mostly federal land would owe half the usual local match on USDA rural grants.
Average Household Impact
- Rural grant access — Local match cut by half for counties that are majority federal land
- Technical assistance — USDA must help these counties with applications on request
- Application priority — Counties with no award in the past 10 years move up in ranking
The details
A county can be small and cash-poor while most of the land inside it belongs to the federal government — land that generates no property tax. Those same counties then struggle to put up the local match that USDA rural grants require. Counties under 100,000 people where more than half the land is federal would see that match cut in half. The break applies across a list of USDA programs. That includes rural business development, community facilities, telemedicine and distance learning, and the ReConnect broadband program. Tribal and local governments inside those counties qualify too. USDA would have to offer extra application help on request. Applicants that have not won an award in ten years move up in priority.
Congressional Summary
More Opportunities for Rural Economies from USDA Grants Act or the MORE USDA Grants Act This bill expands access to qualifying Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant programs for local governments or tribal governments located within a high-density public land county. Under the bill, these are counties (1) that have a population of not more than 100,000 people, and (2) where the federal government owns or manages more than 50% of the land.Qualifying USDA grant programs include the Rural Business Development Grants, the Community Facilities grant program, the Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grants program, and other specified grant programs administered by USDA rural development agencies or by USDA. Under the bill, any requirement for local matching funds under a qualifying grant program must be reduced by 50% for a local government or tribal government within a high-density public land county.On request, USDA must provide additional technical assistance to these local governments or tribal governments before and during the annual application period for each qualifying grant program.Further, USDA must prioritize grant applications from these local governments and tribal governments that have not received support in the previous 10 years under the qualifying grant program.For qualifying grant programs, USDA may also provide additional application support for these local governments or tribal governments. Support may include offering flexibility in meeting certain application requirements or addressing a barrier to applying for or receiving assistance, such as flexibility related to financial requirements or application scoring criteria.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- Senate
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in Senate
- Action Date
- 2025-07-31
- Date Added
- 2026-07-28
- Source
- Congress.gov →
Like reading a bill in plain English?
We're building an app that does this for every bill in Congress and lets you tell your reps how you want them to vote. We're a small team getting ready to launch, and we're trying to show investors that real people want this. Be one of them. Help us get it built. Leave your email and we'll tell you the moment the app is ready.