Sponsors (4)
Introduced February 20, 2026 by Jim Costa · Last progress February 20, 2026
The bill extends rural program eligibility and clarifies statutory rules—bringing more communities, territories, and tribes access to broadband, energy, water, and housing resources—but risks diluting limited funding, increasing federal costs and administrative burdens, and shifting aid away from the smallest or most remote places.
Residents of larger rural towns, many nonmetro communities, U.S. territories, Freely Associated States, and tribal areas gain eligibility for a wide range of federal rural programs (USDA loans/grants, broadband, telemedicine, water/wastewater, DOE energy support, rural electrification, Community Connect, and housing) because population thresholds and covered project definitions are expanded or cod
Residents and small businesses in newly eligible areas can access more federal funding for broadband, telemedicine, distance learning, energy projects, and water infrastructure—improving internet access, energy reliability, and public utility systems locally.
Low-income households and homeowners in expanded-eligibility communities can access Title V housing programs and fewer program caps, potentially increasing housing assistance and larger awards where caps are removed.
Millions of rural residents in currently eligible places — especially very small or remote towns — could receive smaller awards because expanding eligibility without additional appropriations risks diluting per-community or per-project funding.
Peri-urban or suburban places newly classified as 'rural' may capture funds and compete with the smallest, most remote communities, shifting program resources away from the places these programs were originally intended to serve.
Extending eligibility and removing numerical caps is likely to increase program costs and could require additional appropriations or budget reallocation, imposing higher costs on taxpayers or forcing trade-offs in federal budgets.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Raises the statutory rural population ceiling to 25,000 (excluding incarcerated and military base residents), harmonizes related laws, updates territorial references, and requires annual reassessment.
Raises the population ceiling that defines which places count as "rural" for many USDA, water, broadband, housing, and electrification programs to 25,000 and clarifies that incarcerated people and military base residents should not be counted when deciding if an area is rural. It also harmonizes and updates related statutes (including energy and reclamation water project definitions), fixes territorial references for U.S. territories and Freely Associated States, makes technical corrections, and requires the Secretary of Agriculture to annually reassess the numerical rural-population threshold and adjust it if needed.