II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 267 

To increase the Federal share of operating costs for certain projects that 

receive grants under the Formula Grants to Rural Areas Program of 

the Federal Transit Administration. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 4, 2021 

Ms. SMITH (for herself, Mr. ROUNDS, and Ms. BALDWIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To increase the Federal share of operating costs for certain 

projects that receive grants under the Formula Grants 

to Rural Areas Program of the Federal Transit Administration. 

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 ‘‘Investments in Rural 

5 Transit Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INCREASED FEDERAL SHARE OF OPERATING COSTS 

2 FOR CERTAIN AREAS. 

3 Section 5311(g)(2)(B) of title 49, United States 

4 Code, is amended— 

5 (1) in the subparagraph heading, by striking 

6 ‘‘EXCEPTION’’ and inserting ‘‘EXCEPTIONS’’; 

7 (2) by striking ‘‘A State’’ and inserting the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(i) STATES WITH NONTAXABLE IN10 DIAN LANDS OR PUBLIC DOMAIN LANDS.— 

11 Subject to clause (ii), a State’’; and 

12 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(ii) AREAS WITH PARTICULAR

14 NEEDS.— 

15 ‘‘(I) DEFINITION.—In this 

16 clause, the term ‘area of persistent 

17 poverty’ means— 

18 ‘‘(aa) any county in which 

19 not less than 20 percent of the 

20 population has lived in poverty 

21 during the most recent 30-year 

22 period, as measured by— 

23 ‘‘(AA) the second and 

24 third most recent decennial 

25 censuses; and 


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1 ‘‘(BB) the Small Area 

2 Income and Poverty Esti3 mates of the Bureau of the 

4 Census for the most recent 

5 year for which the Estimates 

6 are available; or 

7 ‘‘(bb) any census tract with 

8 a poverty rate of not less than 20 

9 percent, as measured by most re10 cent 5-year data series available 

11 from the American Community 

12 Survey of the Bureau of the Cen13 sus. 

14 ‘‘(II) INCREASED FEDERAL

15 SHARE.—A grant made under this 

16 section for operating assistance to an 

17 operator of public transportation that 

18 serves an area that meets one or more 

19 of the criteria under subclause (III) 

20 shall be for 80 percent of the net op21 erating costs of the project, as deter22 mined by the Secretary. 

23 ‘‘(III) CRITERIA.—The criteria 

24 referred to in subclause (II) are that 

25 an area— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) is an area of per2 sistent poverty; 

3 ‘‘(bb) is a county in which 

4 not less than 25 percent of resi5 dents are age 65 or older, accord6 ing to the most recent 5-year es7 timate of the American Commu8 nity Survey of the Bureau of the 

9 Census; 

10 ‘‘(cc) is a county that, or is 

11 a county that includes a site 

12 that— 

13 ‘‘(AA) has been des14 ignated by the Secretary of 

15 Health and Human Services 

16 as a health professional 

17 shortage area under section 

18 332(a) of the Public Health 

19 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

20 254e(a)) on the basis of a 

21 primary care or mental 

22 health care shortage; and 

23 ‘‘(BB) received a health 

24 professional shortage area 

25 score for the most recent 


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1 program year, with respect 

2 to primary care or mental 

3 health care, that was not 

4 less than the lowest min5 imum score, as designated 

6 by the Secretary of Health 

7 and Human Services for 

8 that program year, nec9 essary for the site to be eli10 gible for the assignment of 

11 National Health Service 

12 Corps members providing 

13 primary care or mental 

14 health care, respectively, for 

15 fulfillment of obligated serv16 ice under the National 

17 Health Service Corps Schol18 arship Program; or 

19 ‘‘(dd) is a county with a 

20 population density of not more 

21 than 20 persons per square mile 

22 of land area, based on the most 

23 recent decennial census.’’. 

Æ 


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