II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3309 

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide rural partnership program grants and rural partnership technical assistance grants, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 15, 2023 

Mr. CASEY (for himself and Mrs. FISCHER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide rural 

partnership program grants and rural partnership technical assistance grants, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Partnership and 

5 Prosperity Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

9 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 


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1 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

2 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

3 (2) RURAL; RURAL AREA.—The terms ‘‘rural’’ 

4 and ‘‘rural area’’ have the meaning given those 

5 terms in section 343(a)(13)(A) of the Consolidated 

6 Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 

7 1991(a)(13)(A)). 

8 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

9 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

10 SEC. 3. RURAL PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM GRANTS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of ap12 propriations under subsection (j), the Secretary shall es13 tablish a program to make multiyear grant awards to co14 ordinate Federal, nonprofit, and for-profit investment in 

15 rural areas. 

16 (b) GRANT REQUIREMENTS.— 

17 (1) TERM.—The term of a grant awarded 

18 under subsection (a) shall be not less than 2 years 

19 and not more than 5 years. 

20 (2) AWARDS.—Except as provided in para21 graphs (3) and (4), the State offices of the rural de22 velopment mission area shall be responsible for re23 viewing applications for grant awards under sub24 section (a) and selecting eligible applicants described 

25 in subsection (d) for those grant awards. 


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1 (3) TRIBAL AWARDS.—Except as provided in 

2 paragraph (4), in the case of grants under sub3 section (a) allocated to Indian Tribes under sub4 section (c)(1)(B), the national office of the rural de5 velopment mission area shall be responsible for re6 viewing applications for grant awards under sub7 section (a) and selecting eligible applicants described 

8 in subsection (d) for those grant awards. 

9 (4) COMPETITIVE PROCESS.—If the amount ap10 propriated under subsection (j) for a fiscal year is 

11 less than or equal to $300,000,000, the national of12 fice of the rural development mission area shall be 

13 responsible for reviewing applications for grant 

14 awards under subsection (a) and selecting eligible 

15 applicants described in subsection (d) for those 

16 grant awards— 

17 (A) on a competitive basis; and 

18 (B) by giving priority to areas that have 

19 higher nonmetropolitan poverty levels and lower 

20 population levels, while ensuring that grants 

21 under this section are awarded in diverse geo22 graphic regions of the United States. 

23 (c) GRANT ALLOCATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub2 section (b)(4), the Secretary shall allocate funding 

3 for grants under subsection (a)— 

4 (A) for each State based on a formula de5 termined by the Secretary in accordance with 

6 paragraph (2); and 

7 (B) for Indian Tribes in such amounts as 

8 the Secretary determines to be appropriate, 

9 subject to the condition that the total amount 

10 allocated to Indian Tribes under this subpara11 graph shall not be less than 5 percent of the 

12 amount appropriated under subsection (j), with 

13 Indian Tribes located in areas that have higher 

14 poverty levels and lower populations receiving 

15 higher levels of funding. 

16 (2) ALLOCATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall de18 velop a graduated scale to allocate funding for 

19 States under paragraph (1)(A) based on the 

20 nonmetropolitan poverty and population levels 

21 in each State. 

22 (B) LIMITATION.—The amount allocated 

23 to any State under subparagraph (A) shall not 

24 exceed 5 percent of the amount appropriated 

25 under subsection (j). 


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1 (3) SMALL STATE EXCEPTION TO FORMULA.— 

2 Notwithstanding paragraphs (1)(A) and (2)(A), the 

3 Secretary shall ensure that each State is allocated 

4 an amount for grants under this subsection that is 

5 sufficient to fulfill the purposes of the program es6 tablished under this section, as determined by the 

7 Secretary. 

8 (4) REALLOCATION.—If a State or Indian Tribe 

9 does not use funds allocated to the State or Indian 

10 Tribe under this subsection, the Secretary may re11 allocate the unused funds to 1 or more other States 

12 or Indian Tribes, each of which has used all of the 

13 funding allocated to the State or Indian Tribe under 

14 this subsection. 

15 (d) ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.—To be eligible to receive 

16 a grant under subsection (a), an applicant shall— 

17 (1) propose to serve a rural area; 

18 (2) be composed of a partnership of 2 or more 

19 of— 

20 (A) an instrumentality or political subdivi21 sion of a State, such as a municipality, county, 

22 district, or authority; 

23 (B) a nonprofit corporation or association 

24 with significant ties to the rural area described 

25 in paragraph (1), including through— 


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1 (i) association with, or control by, 1 

2 or more public bodies in the rural area; 

3 (ii) broadly based ownership and con4 trol by members of the rural area; or 

5 (iii) a substantial public funding con6 tribution to the rural area through taxes, 

7 revenue bonds, other local government 

8 sources, or substantial voluntary commu9 nity funding; 

10 (C) a cooperative with significant ties to 

11 the rural area described in paragraph (1); 

12 (D) a for-profit entity with a significant 

13 presence in the rural area described in para14 graph (1); 

15 (E) an institution of higher education— 

16 (i) with a significant contribution to 

17 or presence in the rural area described in 

18 paragraph (1); and 

19 (ii) that includes representatives who 

20 are members of the rural area; and 

21 (F) an Indian Tribe— 

22 (i) in a rural area described in para23 graph (1); and 

24 (ii) with demonstrated support from 

25 the Tribal council or duly elected Tribal 


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1 executive of the appropriate Tribal govern2 ment; and 

3 (3) demonstrate cooperation among the mem4 bers of the partnership described in paragraph (2) 

5 necessary to complete comprehensive, asset-based 

6 rural development through eligible activities de7 scribed in subsection (e). 

8 (e) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—An eligible applicant de9 scribed in subsection (d) that receives a grant under sub10 section (a) may use the grant funds in rural areas— 

11 (1) to coordinate Federal, State, regional, or 

12 Tribal initiatives to reduce duplicative efforts with 

13 respect to Federal investments; 

14 (2) to leverage non-Federal financial and tech15 nical resources; 

16 (3) to complete comprehensive predevelopment 

17 activities and planning; 

18 (4) to create public-private partnerships and at19 tract private investment; 

20 (5) to support eligible operational activities, in21 cluding staffing, of the eligible applicants, except 

22 that a for-profit entity may not use the grant funds 

23 for the purpose described in this paragraph; 

24 (6) to provide capital to existing or new 

25 projects, subject to the condition that not more than 


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1 50 percent of the grant funds may be used for that 

2 purpose; 

3 (7) to support regional projects and initiatives; 

4 (8) to address economic recovery from emer5 gencies and natural or man-made disasters; and 

6 (9) to develop strategic community investment 

7 plans described in section 379H(d) of the Consoli8 dated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 

9 2008v(d)). 

10 (f) INELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—An eligible applicant 

11 described in subsection (d) that receives a grant under 

12 subsection (a) may not use the grant funds— 

13 (1) to fund operational activities, including 

14 staffing, at a for-profit institution; 

15 (2) to purchase or lease real property; or 

16 (3) to support a non-rural area. 

17 (g) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In awarding grants 

18 under subsection (b), the Secretary shall give priority to 

19 an eligible applicant described in subsection (d) that pro20 poses to serve— 

21 (1) a rural area with a significant change in 

22 population; 

23 (2) a rural area with significant workforce 

24 changes or changes in major employers; 


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1 (3) an economically distressed rural area, as de2 termined by the Secretary; 

3 (4) a rural area that has historically received 

4 minimal Federal funding, as determined by the Sec5 retary; or 

6 (5) a rural area for the purpose of job retention 

7 and economic stabilization, as determined by the 

8 Secretary. 

9 (h) MATCHING FUNDS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), an 

11 eligible applicant described in subsection (d) that re12 ceives a grant under subsection (a) shall provide 

13 non-Federal matching funds in the form of cash or 

14 an in-kind contribution in an amount that is not less 

15 than 25 percent of the amount of the grant. 

16 (2) WAIVER.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

18 waive the requirement under paragraph (1) 

19 based on the demonstrated need of the eligible 

20 applicant or the population served by the eligi21 ble applicant, as determined by the Secretary, 

22 including— 

23 (i) an eligible applicant serving an 

24 area with a higher nonmetropolitan poverty 

25 level; 


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1 (ii) an eligible applicant serving a 

2 Tribal population; and 

3 (iii) an eligible applicant composed of 

4 a partnership that includes an entity de5 scribed in subsection (d)(2)(A). 

6 (B) JUSTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall 

7 provide to the Committee on Agriculture of the 

8 House of Representatives and the Committee 

9 on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the 

10 Senate a justification for each waiver provided 

11 under subparagraph (A). 

12 (3) PROVIDERS.—Non-Federal matching funds 

13 under paragraph (1) may be provided by any mem14 ber of the applicable partnership described in sub15 section (d)(2). 

16 (i) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall carry out 

17 this section in coordination with the Rural Partners Net18 work established by section 6306 of the Agriculture Im19 provement Act of 2018 (7 U.S.C. 2204b–3). 

20 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

22 appropriated to the Secretary such sums as are nec23 essary to carry out this section. 

24 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary may re25 tain not more than 2 percent of the amounts made 


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1 available to carry out this section for administration 

2 of the program established under this section. 

3 SEC. 4. RURAL PARTNERSHIP TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 

4 GRANTS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of ap6 propriations under subsection (g), the Secretary shall es7 tablish a program to award grants, on a competitive basis, 

8 for up to a 5-year period, to be administered at the na9 tional level through the Under Secretary for Rural Devel10 opment, for the purpose of advising on and assisting rural 

11 community organizations with— 

12 (1) Federal grant management and the develop13 ment of financial management systems; 

14 (2) housing or community economic develop15 ment projects; and 

16 (3) the development of placemaking plans and 

17 applications for Federal grants. 

18 (b) ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.—To be eligible to receive 

19 a grant under subsection (a), an applicant shall be a quali20 fied private or nonprofit intermediary organization, includ21 ing an institution of higher education with an existing 

22 community development and planning program, including 

23 an extension program, that has demonstrated experience 

24 and capacity to provide technical assistance on community 

25 development and planning in rural areas. 


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1 (c) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—An eligible applicant de2 scribed in subsection (b) that receives a grant under sub3 section (a) may use the grant funds to support the capac4 ity building and economic development of identified rural 

5 areas and local partners in those rural areas through the 

6 following activities: 

7 (1) Training and supporting local staff, includ8 ing relating to systems development and support. 

9 (2) Identifying vetted technical consultants for 

10 planning and designing physical infrastructure. 

11 (3) Facilitating coordination between Federal 

12 agencies and local partners. 

13 (4) Providing expertise on developing public-pri14 vate partnerships. 

15 (5) Development and project predevelopment 

16 activities. 

17 (6) Grant writing and grant management ac18 tivities. 

19 (d) INELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—An eligible applicant 

20 described in subsection (b) that receives a grant under 

21 subsection (a) may not use the grant funds— 

22 (1) to fund staffing at a for-profit entity; 

23 (2) to purchase or lease real property, build24 ings, or equipment; 

25 (3) to support a non-rural area; or 


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1 (4) for research and development. 

2 (e) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under subsection 

3 (a), the Secretary may give priority to an eligible applicant 

4 described in subsection (b) that serves— 

5 (1) a nonmetropolitan area with a high poverty 

6 level; or 

7 (2) an Indian Tribe with demonstrated support 

8 from the Tribal council or duly elected Tribal execu9 tive of the appropriate Tribal government. 

10 (f) MATCHING FUNDS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), an 

12 eligible applicant described in subsection (b) that re13 ceives a grant under subsection (a) shall provide 

14 non-Federal matching funds in an amount that is 

15 not less than 30 percent of the amount of the grant. 

16 (2) WAIVER.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

18 waive the requirement under paragraph (1) 

19 based on the demonstrated need of the area in 

20 which activities using the grant are to be car21 ried out, as determined by the Secretary. 

22 (B) JUSTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall 

23 provide to the Committee on Agriculture of the 

24 House of Representatives and the Committee 

25 on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the 


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1 Senate a justification for each waiver provided 

2 under subparagraph (A). 

3 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

5 appropriated to the Secretary such sums as are nec6 essary to carry out this section. 

7 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary may re8 tain not more than 2 percent of the amounts made 

9 available to carry out this section for administration 

10 of the program established under this section. 

11 SEC. 5. RURAL PARTNERS NETWORK. 

12 Section 6306 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 

13 2018 (7 U.S.C. 2204b–3) is amended— 

14 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘COUN15 CIL ON RURAL COMMUNITY INNOVATION AND

16 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘RURAL PARTNERS NETWORK’’; 

18 (2) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘council’’ 

19 and inserting ‘‘network’’; 

20 (3) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established a 

24 Rural Partners Network (referred to in this section 

25 as the ‘Network’). 


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1 ‘‘(2) SUCCESSOR.—The Network shall be the 

2 successor to the Council on Rural Community Inno3 vation and Economic Development established by 

4 this section (as in effect on the day before the date 

5 of enactment of the Rural Partnership and Pros6 perity Act of 2023).’’; 

7 (4) in subsection (c)— 

8 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

9 (i) by striking subparagraphs (C), 

10 (D), (N), (Q), (R), (S), (T), (V), (X), (Y), 

11 and (Z); 

12 (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 

13 (E) through (M), (O), (P), (U), (W), and 

14 (AA) as subparagraphs (C) through (K), 

15 (L), (M), (N), (O), and (X), respectively; 

16 and 

17 (iii) by inserting after subparagraph 

18 (O) (as so redesignated) the following: 

19 ‘‘(P) The Federal Deposit Insurance Cor20 poration. 

21 ‘‘(Q) The Appalachian Regional Commis22 sion. 

23 ‘‘(R) The Consumer Financial Protection 

24 Bureau. 

25 ‘‘(S) The Social Security Administration. 


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1 ‘‘(T) The Delta Regional Authority. 

2 ‘‘(U) The Denali Commission. 

3 ‘‘(V) The Northern Border Regional Com4 mission. 

5 ‘‘(W) The Southeast Crescent Regional 

6 Commission.’’; and 

7 (B) in paragraphs (2) through (4), by 

8 striking ‘‘Council’’ each place it appears and in9 serting ‘‘Network’’; 

10 (5) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘Council’’ and 

11 inserting ‘‘Network’’; 

12 (6) in subsection (e)— 

13 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

14 ‘‘COUNCIL’’ and inserting ‘‘NETWORK’’; 

15 (B) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

16 by striking ‘‘Council’’ and inserting ‘‘Network’’; 

17 (C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

18 the end; 

19 (D) in paragraph (3), by striking the pe20 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

21 (E) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(4) to improve the efficiency of Federal assist23 ance to rural communities by— 

24 ‘‘(A) reducing administrative burdens on 

25 rural communities to pursue Federal funding; 


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1 ‘‘(B) improving the administrative effi2 ciency of Federal economic development pro3 grams serving rural communities; and 

4 ‘‘(C) streamlining and simplifying the ap5 plication process for Federal funding opportuni6 ties for rural communities.’’; 

7 (7) in subsection (f), in the matter preceding 

8 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Council’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘Network’’; 

10 (8) in subsection (g), by striking ‘‘Council’’ 

11 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Network’’; and 

12 (9) by striking subsection (h) and inserting the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(h) INNOVATIVE CROSS-AGENCY COORDINATION.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting as 

16 Chair of the Network, may carry out innovative 

17 strategies for coordinating with other Federal de18 partments and agencies with respect to programs 

19 that serve rural areas. 

20 ‘‘(2) PRIORITIES.—In carrying out paragraph 

21 (1), the Secretary shall prioritize— 

22 ‘‘(A) improving ease of access to Federal 

23 programs for resource-constrained rural com24 munities; 


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1 ‘‘(B) utilizing early technical assistance to 

2 reduce duplicative applications and administra3 tive costs at the Federal level; 

4 ‘‘(C) leveraging partnerships with local, 

5 State, philanthropic, and private entities to 

6 maximize returns on Federal investments; 

7 ‘‘(D) integrating stakeholder and program 

8 user experience into program design; and 

9 ‘‘(E) targeting areas experiencing economic 

10 distress, as determined by the Secretary.’’. 

Æ 


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