Letlow Introduces Empowering Rural Communities Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Julia Letlow today filed legislation to provide increased support for rural communities and more transparency in federal spending. The Empowering Rural Communities Act provides greater assistance for rural communities seeking federal grants while requiring the federal government to publicly disclose the results achieved by USDA Rural Development spending.

“When I first ran for Congress, one of my primary goals was to provide a greater voice for Louisiana communities and taxpayers in our nation’s capital. While I’ve done this work on the Appropriations Committee, more must be done to support rural communities seeking support for infrastructure, housing, and small business growth,” said Congresswoman Julia Letlow. “My Empowering Rural Communities Act will ensure our small towns receive needed help navigating government bureaucracy when pursuing grant funding, while showing taxpayers exactly what the money was spent on and what results were produced.”

Rural communities often operate with small staffs and limited capacity, making it difficult to navigate complex federal grant applications and compliance requirements. As a result, communities with real infrastructure, housing, and economic development needs can miss out on available funding simply because they lack the technical expertise to compete. Providing targeted technical assistance helps level the playing field so rural taxpayers have a fair opportunity to access federal resources. This bill requires USDA to reserve 2.5% of funding from Rural Development grant programs to provide this technical assistance to rural communities.

The legislation also requires USDA to submit and publicly post an annual report to Congress showing how the funds were used and what results they produced. No new spending is authorized by the legislation.