Issue Position: Heartland Fair Deal

Issue Position

We have to put policies in place so a kid doesn't have to move to a big city in order to have a chance for a good job. We need a country where it's equally likely that a city kid moves to rural America for a job as vice versa.

Economic Growth
Investment has been concentrated in a small number of cities and rural America has been left behind. Reversing this trend requires investment.

Student loan forgiveness for people that live and work in these communities for 10 years
Priority in government contracting to companies with a majority of employees in rural counties
Fix opportunity zone legislation to focus more on operating businesses, rather than investing in real estate
Double the EITC
Incentivize companies to build negative emission technology in rural America and coal country
Create new SBIC and SBA Loan programs to encourage entrepreneurship and focus venture capital investment in rural America, particularly agricultural and climate disruptive technologies
Support entrepreneurship in rural communities and mid-sized cities adjacent to rural America
Infrastructure
Rural infrastructure should be world-class. Rural America deserves clean water, high-speed broadband, and safe bridges and roads.

Create an Infrastructure Bank and increase funding to the Highway Trust Fund
Focus on climate resiliency and flooding
Rural Health
There shouldn't be health disparities and doctor shortages in rural America.

Universal health care coverage
Create incentives for doctors and other health care professionals to move to and serve rural communities
Expand scope of practice up to the level of training for health care professionals
Better integrate physical and mental health care and guarantee parity for mental health care
Expand and invest in tele-health, including investments in broadband* Invest in Community Health Centers
Ensure rural communities have access to high quality, affordable substance use disorder treatments
Strengthen access to pre-natal and maternity care in rural communities
Improve access to health care for our veterans living in rural communities
Support Agriculture
U.S. agriculture feeds our country and much of the world. We have to end the trade wars and expand markets for U.S. agriculture.

Reenter the TPP so we can expand markets in Asia and counter China's dominance in those markets
Invest in research to help agriculture deal with climate change through better technology and soil management
Expand access and funding for conservation programs* Invest in research to expand bio-based manufacturing opportunities
Redesign anti-trust regulations to address concentration of power in the agriculture economy
Download our Heartland Fair Deal one-sheet here.

Related Issues:
Economic Opportunity
Infrastructure
Universal Health Care

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