More than 1,400 groups, activists sign petition against budget that would cut Rural Development

More than 1,400 rural organizations and advocates have sent a petition to Congress in an attempt to stop cuts to Rural Development programs in the Department of Agriculture's proposed budget for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1, Sarah Mickelson reports for the Daily Yonder. "Proposed changes include a 60 percent cut in low-cost home ownership loans and over $150 million in cuts to grants that help small, rural communities provide potable water and waste disposal systems to residents."

"Rural advocates argue that rural America’s community development needs are not a priority for the administration and urge Congress to reject the proposed reductions as 'unwise and unwarranted,'” Mickelson writes. "They warn that the president’s budget will only make it harder for low-income families, the elderly and persons with disabilities to access decent, healthy and affordable housing and will hurt struggling rural economies."

The main concerns are cuts to guaranteed loans and self-help loans, Mickelson writes. Guaranteed loans "provide fixed-rate mortgages—with up to 38-year terms and subsidized interest rates as low as just one percent—to help low-income rural families gain access to clean, decent and affordable housing," while self-help grants "is the only federal program that combines 'sweat equity' home ownership opportunities with technical assistance and affordable loans for America’s rural families." (Read more)