Harkin: Highlights of stimulus

From the office of Sen. Tom Harkin:



Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today said the economic recovery package expected to pass Congress today contains key provisions that will direct crucial funding toward rural development, nutrition and conservation initiatives, many of which were included in the farm bill. Harkin is Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.

“The economic downturn has cut across all sectors of our country, further straining the rural and agriculture economies and increasing food insecurity,” said Harkin. “This bill sends urgently needed aid to these targeted communities, and it comes in the form of grants and loans and services like broadband. At the same time, it creates jobs and puts food into the hands of those who need it most – one of the best economic stimulators.”

Rural Development Highlights

“From increasing loans to rural businesses to ensuring broadband coverage, this economic recovery package connects rural America with the services residents’ need, while at the same time, creates jobs,” said Harkin.

Broadband: $2.5 billion for grants, loans and guarantees through the Rural Utility Service, to provide improved broadband availability in rural areas.

Rural Water and Waste Disposal Loans and Grants: $1.38 billion to support $968 million in grants and $2.8 billion in loans to eliminate the approved application backlog.

Agricultural Research Service Building Improvements: $176 million in funding to address the deferred maintenance of the ARS’s aging laboratory and research infrastructure. Funding from this provision could be used to address the over $20 million in improvement need at the Animal Disease Lab in Ames, Iowa.

Rural Housing Assistance: $200 million to support $11.4 billion in direct and guaranteed loans that will provide home ownership opportunities for low to moderate-income families in rural areas.

Rural Community Facility Program for towns of under 20,000: $130 million to support $1.17 billion in loans and $67 million in grants with an emphasis on day care and elder care facilities, hospitals, health clinics and public safety.

Business & Industry Loan Guarantee Program: $150 million to support $3 billion in guarantees and $20 million in related grants particularly important for many businesses facing credit difficulties. These loans and grants will help bolster the existing credit structure to improve, develop, or finance business, industry, and employment to improve the economic climate in rural communities of fewer than 50,000 people.

Food and Nutrition Highlights

“Food insecurity is rising, but this package supports some of our most vulnerable communities. And we know that one of the best economic stimulators is food aid,” said Harkin.

The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP): $150 million to help supplement the diets of low-income individuals, including elderly people, through foods provided at food banks, community food pantries and soup kitchens and shelters.

Women, Infants and Children Program: $400 million in added funding to help meet the need for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). To help families obtain food, the bill provides a temporary increase in food assistance benefits provided through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, benefitting 31 million Americans.


Conservation Highlights

“The work to clear debris can be substantial, but this effort puts real money in the pockets of farmers who will spend it locally and will help create well-paying construction jobs in rural areas. The funding has the additional cost benefit of taking land highly susceptible to floods out of crop production. It is also particularly helpful for Iowa producers still reeling from Midwest floods,” said Harkin.
Watershed Flood and Prevention Operations: $290 million was provided for this program, with $145 million set aside for the purchase and restoration of floodplains. The floodplain easement funding is particularly important to Iowa, which has an existing backlog of floodplain easements.