One provision of the 2008 farm bill requires USDA to submit, within two years of passage of the legislation, a report on various definitions of "rural" that the department uses in determining eligibility for some federal programs. The purpose of the report is to assess the effects and consequences that various definitions have on the delivery of USDA's rural development programs.
However, as Rep. Timothy Johnson (R-Ill.), chairman of the House Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Rural Development, Research, Biotechnology, and Foreign Agriculture, notes, the department has yet to complete its required report. The bill was approved by Congress in June 2008 and became law over the veto of then President George W. Bush.
According to subcommittee ranking member Jim Costa (D-Calif.): "The multiple and varying definitions of rural has a significant effect on many rural communities both in my district and across the country. Many areas that may be considered rural by most any other definition are not defined as rural and struggle to finance essential infrastructure projects that rural development programs are supposed to target. As we grapple with this issue, I hope Congress and the administration can work together on a bipartisan basis to come up with a better definition to help our rural areas maximize the use of our resources."
