Today a national collaborative of rural policy and advocacy organizations released the “2021 Rural Policy Action Report,” which outlines specific investments, policy improvements, and regulatory reforms designed to improve the economy, infrastructure, and equity for diverse rural communities.

“We came together over the past few months to hammer out a comprehensive rural federal policy action agenda that reflects the wide diversity of rural people, rural needs and rural experience,” said Shawn Sebastian, Senior Strategist on Rural Policy and Organizing for People’s Action. “From racial and gender equity to a more fair economy to jobs and infrastructure, this report provides a roadmap for rural policy we hope the Biden Administration and this Congress prioritize in the next two years.”

In the early weeks of 2021, the Rural Democracy Initiative, Farm Action Fund, and RuralOrganizing.org began assembling a Rural Policy Summit to engage rural advocates across policy sectors and around the country. To understand the full scope of work and life in rural communities, the organizers gathered input from Indigenous communities, healthcare workers, family farmers, rural educators, farmworkers, small business leaders, elected officials, and more. Discussions were conducted through 35 in-depth interviews with policy leaders, six group discussions by policy sector, and a two-day convening of over 60 experts and organizers.

Participants grouped the most strategic, popular, and critical Rural Policy Action demands into four primary pillars, including:

1. End historic discrimination

2. Invest in rural communities

3. Rein in corporate monopolies and prioritize working people and locally owned businesses

4. Build a rural economy that prioritizes community and is sustainable, not extractive

“Our policy advocacy and organizing efforts are already paying off,” said Joe Maxwell, President of Farm Action Fund. “The American Rescue Act and the Biden American Jobs Plan proposal includes many of our rural priorities. Our political leaders need to build on this momentum, and reverse the bipartisan legacy of rural wealth extraction and deprioritization.”

Participating groups say this report is unique because it cuts across multiple sectors, challenging policymakers to expand their notion of rural policy. “Rural policy is so much more than debates about agriculture exports and farm subsidies. Our report is inclusive of rural environmental justice issues, economic viability and infrastructure, healthcare access and affordability, and the rural imperative of a more robust public sector,” said Wisconsin Farmers Union Executive Director Julie Keown-Bomar.

The report seeks to dispel myths about rural communities and identifies seven themes that prevailed throughout the report development process: