HR7201-119

What This Bill Does

The Rural Service and Workforce Corps Act directs the Agriculture Secretary to design a service-for-benefits program to address rural workforce shortages. Participants would receive scholarships, tuition assistance, student loan repayment, stipends or wage support during service, and relocation or retention incentives in exchange for three years of service in a rural area designated by USDA. The program prioritizes health care, including primary care, behavioral health, dental, and emergency services; skilled trades such as electricians, plumbers, HVAC, welding, and construction; energy infrastructure such as lineworkers, renewable energy technicians, and grid operators; utilities and public works such as water, wastewater, and broadband technicians; and other aging-workforce sectors identified by the Labor Secretary. Target areas include USDA persistent poverty counties, HRSA health professional shortage areas, and areas with Indian Tribal, Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian communities. Public, nonprofit, cooperative, Tribal, and private employers can participate if they meet wage and training standards set by USDA in consultation with Labor. USDA must consult Education, Labor, HHS, Energy, and other agencies, then report to Congress within four years on the first cohort, placements, sectors, employers, geography, retention in placement areas, coordination challenges, and improvements.

Who Benefits and How

Rural workers, students with education debt, healthcare workers, skilled trades trainees, lineworkers, water and wastewater operators, broadband technicians, persistent-poverty counties, health professional shortage areas, Tribal communities, Alaska Native communities, Native Hawaiian communities, and eligible rural employers benefit from a federal service-for-benefits pipeline. Rural residents benefit if the program fills shortages in health care, public works, utilities, energy infrastructure, and skilled trades.

Who Bears the Burden and How

USDA must design the program, designate rural service areas, set wage and training standards, coordinate with Education, Labor, HHS, Energy, and other agencies, track the first cohort, and report to Congress within four years. Participating employers must meet program standards and host service placements. Participants must complete three years of rural service to earn benefits. Federal agencies face coordination burdens, and federal taxpayers bear scholarship, loan repayment, stipend, relocation, and retention costs.

Key Provisions

• Directs USDA to design a Rural Service and Workforce Corps modeled on the National Health Service Corps.
• Provides scholarships, tuition assistance, student loan repayment, wage support, relocation incentives, and retention incentives.
• Requires three years of service in a USDA-designated rural area.
• Prioritizes health care, skilled trades, energy infrastructure, utilities, public works, and other aging-workforce sectors.
• Targets persistent-poverty counties, health professional shortage areas, and Tribal, Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian communities.
• Requires interagency consultation and a four-year congressional report on implementation and effectiveness.