New Rural Policy Report Provides Roadmap Out of Washington Deadlock

The Rural Policy Action Report shares popular policies to benefit rural America.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT
Eme Crawford, Senior Director of Communications, SiX
eme@stateinnovation.org 

Dysfunction in Washington is on full display this month. The government is shut down and is ignoring the upcoming deadline to prevent massive cost increases to healthcare. 

But there is another way. Released today, the Rural Policy Action Report outlines policies that are popular with everyday Americans and provides practical steps Congress could take immediately to deliver for the American people. The report provides a positive agenda to improve rural people’s lives and deliver lower costs, higher wages, and the freedom to make choices about our own lives.

Forty groups, including State Innovation Exchange (SiX), contributed to the report, which showcases the broad support for the tools and opportunities we need to build a good life. Brought together by the Rural Democracy Initiative, contributing groups include regional groups like New Rural Project, statewide organizations like the Wisconsin Farmers Union, and national organizations like the American Federation of Teachers. These groups represent diverse geographies, issue expertise, and constituents. Together, they form a cornerstone of a governing majority coalition, giving rural people power to influence the decisions that impact their lives.

To see corresponding rural policies at the state level, check out SiX’s Blueprint for Rural Policy Action in the States.

RESHAPE GOVERNMENT FOR WORKING PEOPLE

The report recognizes that our country runs on the work and innovation of working people. But for decades, big corporations and the ultrawealthy have exploited government influence to gain special treatment and put up barriers for the rest of us. To reshape the government for working people, the report highlights 26 policy priorities, organized into four pillars. 

1. Rein in corporate greed and support workers, small businesses, and farmers
2. Invest in foundational infrastructure for thriving communities
3. Everyone gets a fair deal - no one should be discriminated against or excluded from the benefits of pillars 1 and 2
4. Steward our land and natural resources for a prosperous and sustainable future

RURAL CASE STUDIES 

The report also features four rural stories that illustrate how policy can either help or hinder rural communities.

1. Last year, Missourians organized a ballot initiative and voted to raise the statewide minimum wage and establish paid sick leave. This pro-worker ballot initiative was more popular than any statewide candidate and shows the broad support for populist economic policy. When rural people have a seat at the policy-making table, we build an economy from the bottom up and middle out, not the top down.
   
2. Yakutat, Alaska utilized federal funding to repair a failing municipal heating system. This investment kept the school in session and created energy efficiency that will save millions while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Yet the 2024 success story in Yakutak is much more difficult today, because politicians in Washington cut programs and diverted funds to the ultrawealthy and giant corporations.
   
3. Bishop Marcia Dinkins of the Black Appalachian Coalition shares how healthcare saved her daughter’s life, but massive cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act will raise prices, kick people off of insurance, cause hospitals and health care infrastructure to close, and disrupt rural economies.
   
4. The report also shares how immigrants, small business owners, and farmers near Marshalltown, Iowa, are working together to build up their community. And federal policy could supercharge their hard work or a cruel immigration policy could cause immense disruption and send them backwards.

“We believe that every American — regardless of whether they live in small towns or big cities, have been here for decades or just arrived —should have what they need to succeed,” said Kendra Kimbirauskas, Senior Director of Food, Agriculture & Rural Economies at SiX and SiX Action. “The Rural Policy Action Report explores tools and policies to improve the lives of rural people, including policies like funding for our hospitals and access to reproductive health care. We look forward to working with rural community leaders and state policymakers together as we shape a new vision for Rural America that centers the needs of the people living and working here.” 

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About State Innovation Exchange (SiX)
State Innovation Exchange (SiX) is a national resource and strategy center that supports state legislators in advancing transformative policy and building a more equitable democracy. SiX partners with lawmakers to promote sustainable, people-centered solutions that strengthen communities and improve lives.

Rural Democracy Initiative supports and connects rural leaders working to transform their lives and communities. It is a unique funding collaborative building power toward a thriving democracy and shared prosperity across diverse communities in rural areas and small cities. Rural Democracy invests in year-round civic engagement, issue advocacy, community organizing infrastructure, and rural leadership in statewide and national coalitions. In addition to grantmaking, Rural Democracy also supports rural leaders and organizations through convening, research, and communications. More at RuralDemocracyInitiative.org.