Sponsors (7)
The bill directs a meaningful, predictable share of program funds to high-production counties to improve farm-to-market roads and lower transport costs for agriculture, but does so by reallocating funds away from other communities, risking gaps for near-threshold or low-production rural areas and favoring larger producers while adding administrative work.
Farmers and rural communities in high-production counties will get dedicated, predictable federal support (10% reservation) for farm-to-market road projects, improving local road conditions, market access, and lowering transport costs for agricultural businesses.
The program will use an annually updated, jointly produced county eligibility list and CPI-indexed thresholds, improving targeting, transparency, and preserving the real value of eligibility criteria over time.
Taxpayers and non-agricultural communities may see fewer funds available for other local road and non-farm projects because 10% of program dollars are reserved for covered (high-production) counties.
Concentrating reserved funds on high-production counties risks favoring larger agricultural producers and better-off areas within those counties, potentially leaving smaller farms and disadvantaged producers with less benefit.
Counties that narrowly miss the numeric eligibility thresholds can be excluded from the reservation despite having rural infrastructure needs, creating coverage gaps for similarly needy communities.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires DOT (with USDA) to list "covered counties" by agricultural output and reserve 10% of program funds each year for projects on farm-to-market roads in those counties.
Official title: To make projects in certain counties eligible for funding under the rural surface transportation grant program, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 21, 2025 by David G. Valadao · Last progress May 21, 2025
Reserves 10% of annual funds for the existing farm-to-market roads program to pay for projects on roads located in counties that meet specified agricultural production thresholds. The Department of Transportation, working with USDA, must make and update a list of "covered counties" defined by two numeric thresholds for agricultural output (with CPI adjustments) and treats any road in a covered county as a "farm-to-market road." This changes how program money is set aside each year and creates a data-driven list of eligible counties.