I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7444 
To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide rural partnership pro-
gram grants and rural partnership technical assistance grants, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 23, 2024 
Ms. SALINAS (for herself and Mr. VALADAO) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide rural 
partnership program grants and rural partnership tech-
nical assistance grants, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Partnership and 
Prosperity Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 
has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 
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Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 
Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 
(2) RURAL; RURAL AREA.—The terms ‘‘rural’’ 
and ‘‘rural area’’ have the meaning given those 
terms in section 343(a)(13)(A) of the Consolidated 
Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 
1991(a)(13)(A)). 
(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Agriculture. 
SEC. 3. RURAL PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM GRANTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of ap-
propriations under subsection (j), the Secretary shall es-
tablish a program to make multiyear grant awards to co-
ordinate Federal, nonprofit, and for-profit investment in 
rural areas. 
(b) GRANT REQUIREMENTS.— 
(1) TERM.—The term of a grant awarded 
under subsection (a) shall be not less than 2 years 
and not more than 5 years. 
(2) AWARDS.—Except as provided in para-
graphs (3) and (4), the State offices of the rural de-
velopment mission area shall be responsible for re-
viewing applications for grant awards under sub-
section (a) and selecting eligible applicants described 
in subsection (d) for those grant awards. 
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(3) TRIBAL AWARDS.—Except as provided in 
paragraph (4), in the case of grants under sub-
section (a) allocated to Indian Tribes under sub-
section (c)(1)(B), the national office of the rural de-
velopment mission area shall be responsible for re-
viewing applications for grant awards under sub-
section (a) and selecting eligible applicants described 
in subsection (d) for those grant awards. 
(4) COMPETITIVE PROCESS.—If the amount ap-
propriated under subsection (j) for a fiscal year is 
less than or equal to $300,000,000, the national of-
fice of the rural development mission area shall be 
responsible for reviewing applications for grant 
awards under subsection (a) and selecting eligible 
applicants described in subsection (d) for those 
grant awards— 
(A) on a competitive basis; and 
(B) by giving priority to areas that have 
higher nonmetropolitan poverty levels and lower 
population levels, while ensuring that grants 
under this section are awarded in diverse geo-
graphic regions of the United States. 
(c) GRANT ALLOCATION.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub-
section (b)(4), the Secretary shall allocate funding 
for grants under subsection (a)— 
(A) for each State based on a formula de-
termined by the Secretary in accordance with 
paragraph (2); and 
(B) for Indian Tribes in such amounts as 
the Secretary determines to be appropriate, 
subject to the condition that the total amount 
allocated to Indian Tribes under this subpara-
graph shall not be less than 5 percent of the 
amount appropriated under subsection (j), with 
Indian Tribes located in areas that have higher 
poverty levels and lower populations receiving 
higher levels of funding. 
(2) ALLOCATION REQUIREMENTS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall de-
velop a graduated scale to allocate funding for 
States under paragraph (1)(A) based on the 
nonmetropolitan poverty and population levels 
in each State. 
(B) LIMITATION.—The amount allocated 
to any State under subparagraph (A) shall not 
exceed 5 percent of the amount appropriated 
under subsection (j). 
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(3) SMALL STATE EXCEPTION TO FORMULA.— 
Notwithstanding paragraphs (1)(A) and (2)(A), the 
Secretary shall ensure that each State is allocated 
an amount for grants under this subsection that is 
sufficient to fulfill the purposes of the program es-
tablished under this section, as determined by the 
Secretary. 
(4) REALLOCATION.—If a State or Indian Tribe 
does not use funds allocated to the State or Indian 
Tribe under this subsection, the Secretary may re-
allocate the unused funds to 1 or more other States 
or Indian Tribes, each of which has used all of the 
funding allocated to the State or Indian Tribe under 
this subsection. 
(d) ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.—To be eligible to receive 
a grant under subsection (a), an applicant shall— 
(1) propose to serve a rural area; 
(2) be composed of a partnership of 2 or more 
of— 
(A) an instrumentality or political subdivi-
sion of a State, such as a municipality, county, 
district, or authority; 
(B) a nonprofit corporation or association 
with significant ties to the rural area described 
in paragraph (1), including through— 
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(i) association with, or control by, 1 
or more public bodies in the rural area; 
(ii) broadly based ownership and con-
trol by members of the rural area; or 
(iii) a substantial public funding con-
tribution to the rural area through taxes, 
revenue bonds, other local government 
sources, or substantial voluntary commu-
nity funding; 
(C) a cooperative with significant ties to 
the rural area described in paragraph (1); 
(D) a for-profit entity with a significant 
presence in the rural area described in para-
graph (1); 
(E) an institution of higher education— 
(i) with a significant contribution to 
or presence in the rural area described in 
paragraph (1); and 
(ii) that includes representatives who 
are members of the rural area; and 
(F) an Indian Tribe— 
(i) in a rural area described in para-
graph (1); and 
(ii) with demonstrated support from 
the Tribal council or duly elected Tribal 
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