Regional and State Policy Issues
NRFC recognizes that a great deal of the funding for rural development projects originates and is managed at the states and regional level. By working at those levels, leaders can make choices and push ideas that make sense where they are and are within the context and culture they operate. Therefore, our work we are doing with our Regional Collaborative partners at the state and regional level, is the foundation of NRFC's policy approach.
The majority of NRFC's Regional Colaboratives are already identifiying issues, enacting strategies, and building relationships at the state or regional level. In response, state and regional law makers are more grounded in the nature of the region and are more directly accountable to the people they represent. Building from these strenths, NRFC is committed to working with these collaboratives to help further develop their regional policy agendas; identify issues that cross state or regional boundaries; and explore how to promote resolution at the regional and federal levels.
In part this is done through connecting federal agency partners and policy makers to the directly to the work of our on-the-ground partners, but just as important, it is elevating the rural voices, stories, and experiences to support procedural and policy changes at the federal level.
Some of the strategies developed and being utilzed by our regional partners are described in the examples below. Each represents a complex interplay of players, policy realities, and opportunities.
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