The challenges rural America faces are staggering. Farmers and ranchers are struggling to compete in an ever-expanding global marketplace whose rules are often stacked against them. Young people born in rural communities find they have to leave to find good jobs with good benefits. Rural families have found their incomes squeezed by the soaring costs of healthcare, college tuition and energy.
Chris Dodd wants to help rural families meet and overcome these challenges because he understands that for all our advances, our country’s best hope in the 21st century lies in preserving the values and viability of the American Heartland and that every American benefits from the hard work of our family farmers and those living in rural America. As President, Chris Dodd will revitalize rural America by:
- Ensuring that family farmers and ranchers get a fair price and have access to a strong safety net
- Opening new markets to American agricultural products, enforcing existing trade agreements and ensuring that new trade agreements are fair and balanced
- Creating new opportunities for homegrown, renewable energy so that our future energy sources come from the Midwest and not the Middle East
- Incentivizing American businesses to bring new jobs to rural communities
- Ending the rural digital divide through a national rural broadband initiative
A Vibrant Farm Economy
An Agriculture Secretary Who Understands Rural America. To ensure that his Secretary of Agriculture has farmers’ interests at heart, Chris Dodd will appoint a Secretary of Agriculture with farming experience—someone that understands the needs of American farmers and rural America.
Fair Price with a Strong Safety Net. Chris Dodd understands that family farmers want to make a living from the market and that they need a fair price to do that. While fighting to ensure they receive a fair price, Chris Dodd will maintain a strong safety net of farm programs that will support family farmers and ranchers, not corporate agribusiness.
Competitive Marketplaces. Chris Dodd will crack down on unfair and anti-competitive trade practices so that family farmers and ranchers can better compete against corporate concentration. He will dedicate significant resources at the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to aggressively investigate allegations of anticompetitive practices and activity in the agricultural market. He will also strengthen USDA’s oversight of the Packers and Stockyards Act so that there is increased fairness and transparency in the current system as well as aggressive enforcement of current law. Chris Dodd will ensure that family farmers and ranchers get a fair shake on the open market.
Fair and Balanced Trade. Under a Dodd Administration, trade agreements will be brokered so that they benefit America’s farmers and ranchers. As President, he will aggressively enforce current trade agreements, negotiate new ones that include labor and environmental standards, prevent the WTO from dictating to American farmers, and stop foreign governments from manipulating their currency to lower the cost of doing business with America. Under a Dodd Administration, the days of American agricultural getting the short end of trade agreements will end.
New Markets for Agricultural Goods. Chris Dodd will also promote new opportunities for American farmers by opening up additional markets for our agricultural products worldwide beginning with Cuba.
The Safest Food Supply in the World. A safe, strong and affordable domestic food supply is essential to the public health and our national security, and all Americans should be grateful to American farmers and ranchers who help feed America every day. Chris Dodd will invest in our nation’s infrastructure to ensure that food can be easily and safely transported and invest in efforts to bolster local capacity to produce, process and distribute foods so that America’s food supply is not vulnerable in times of national or global crises. Chris Dodd also supports country-of-origin labeling and rigorous inspection of products imported from overseas. Americans should never have to worry about getting sick because of what they eat or drink.
New Opportunities and New Beginnings. Chris Dodd has been encouraged by the emergence of farmers’ markets throughout the United States. These markets showcase quality local foods and are a symbol of entrepreneurship on the family farm. Unfortunately, because of overwhelming startup costs, it is next to impossible for a young person to enter these and other types of small farming businesses. As President, Chris Dodd will help young farmers get started by working with his Secretary of Agriculture to create financial assistance plans for the next generation of farmers seeking to farm in sustainable ways.
Renewable Energy and Conservation
A Homegrown Energy Policy: A Renewable Energy Trust. Family farmers are in a unique position to lead and benefit from efforts to address global warming. Expanded demand for biofuels and further development of renewable electricity sources such as wind and solar will also help curb our dependence on foreign oil. Chris Dodd will help position farmers to tap into the coming renewable energy boom by extending and expanding current tax credits designed to encourage the production and use of alternative energy sources. Chris Dodd will also create a Renewable Energy Trust that will grant family farmers and ranchers interest free loans of up to $100,000 to develop or expand their capacity to produce biofuel plants or participate in wind projects while simultaneously providing $1 billion in loan guarantees and grants to promote necessary advances in production technology and bioscience. Ultimately, renewable energy markets will present new opportunities for American farmers to diversify their future sources of income. With the boldest, farthest reaching energy plan of any Presidential candidate, Chris Dodd will ensure that America’s future energy sources come from the Midwest not the Middle East.
Rural Jobs Tax Credit. In addition to working with farmers and ranchers, Chris Dodd will also provide tax incentives for corporate America to relocate renewable energy-related jobs to rural America. A Renewable Energy Rural Jobs Tax Credit will provide a corporate income credit for renewable energy-based businesses that start-up in or relocate to rural areas and create new jobs. A maximum credit of $2,000 per job will be offered for jobs created in areas of population of 20,000 or less and $3,000 per job created in areas of population over 20,000 but still rural. The credit may be carried forward for up to three years. Tax relief will also be offered for the construction of new buildings and the refurbishment of older buildings upon initial relocation or start-up. Encouraging corporate America to relocate to rural areas will keep rural Americans in their communities by bringing them good jobs.
Stewards of America’s Land. As President, Chris Dodd will advance widely supported habitat preservation, conservation and open space objectives while creating additional income generating opportunities for farmers related to hunting, fishing and other forms of outdoor recreation. Chris Dodd will reward farmers and ranchers who enroll their land in carbon trading programs with a federal tax refund of their local and state property taxes up to $3,000. Chris Dodd will encourage habitat preservation through rural tourism by extending a similar tax refund to farmers and ranchers who re-appropriate working lands for hunting, fishing and wildlife preserves. He will expand programs designed to assist farmers, ranchers, and rural small businesses in becoming more energy efficient, and that provide grants, loans and loan guarantees to assist farmers in purchasing renewable energy systems and making energy efficiency improvements.
Universal, Affordable Health Care
Universal Healthcare. As small businesses, family farms are especially sensitive to the rising cost of healthcare. Chris Dodd’s Universal HealthMart will eliminate this sensitivity by providing high-quality comprehensive care at a price that is affordable to everyone. Modeled on the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Plan and offered to all Americans regardless of their employment status, previous medical condition, or ability to pay, Universal HealthMart will offer a variety of comprehensive plans to choose from and entitle every American to the same benefits and types of plans as Members of Congress. If a person or business is unable to pay for insurance, the government will subsidize their premium share on a sliding scale based on income.
Access to Care. Chris Dodd will tackle the problem of access to care in rural areas in three ways. First, he will invest additional dollars into incentivizing health care providers to practice in rural communities through the federal student loan program. Second, he will raise Medicare reimbursement rates for all providers to ensure that they participate in the program. And third, he will launch a Community to Community Care initiative modeled on the Rural Health Care Pilot Program that will connect small hospitals with large ones and patients with providers through telemedicine. Cameras and computers will bring specialized care to small towns across America as specialized doctors in large hospitals will be able to provide direct consultations to their rural peers while patients will be able to consult with the doctor and specialists that they need through “tele-appointments.” Through the internet, chronic conditions can be monitored and services such as counseling can be provided even when doctors and patients are miles apart. The result will be improved access to care for rural patients and improved health and quality of life. To ensure that cost is not a barrier to telemedicine’s viability, insurers who participate in Universal HealthMart will be mandated to cover tele-appointments and Medicare will be required to cover telemedicine for wider swaths of people. The program will cover connectivity and hardware.
Ending the Digital Divide
Broadband Across Rural America. Seven decades ago, President Roosevelt created the Rural Electrification Administration to bring electricity to rural areas. Today, the challenge facing rural and farm households is access to broadband. And yet, broadband holds the key to increased educational opportunities, increased business opportunities and the ability to access healthcare and healthcare information. As President, Chris Dodd will replace USDA’s Rural Development Broadband Loan Program with a broader, more targeted Broadband for Rural America initiative that will provide $2 billion in loan guarantees and below-market rate loans for the construction and improvement of broadband facilities and equipment in rural America. Dodd will also require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to make new spectrum available for wireless broadband services in rural areas. Only through rapid deployment of broadband to America’s rural communities can the digital divide between rural and urban America close. The Dodd Administration understands that broadband can be leveraged to bring good jobs to rural communities so that rural Americans no longer have to leave their communities to find good jobs.
Opportunity for All
Virtual Learning. The Dodd Education Plan will offer all public schools a chance to supplement their current course load with advanced or specialized courses online. A Virtual Learning Innovation Fund will grant funds to school districts, states, nonprofits and universities to create and make these courses available. Virtual courses will offer all students, regardless of geographic location, a chance to participate in advanced and supplemental course offerings like AP and foreign languages that may not otherwise be available to them.
Community College for All. The Dodd plan will partner with states to subsidize in-state tuition at public community colleges for students earning credit towards an associate’s degree. The Dodd plan will match dollar for dollar any tuition reduction offered by states up to 50% of the cost of tuition. If a state agrees to pay half the cost of a student’s tuition, community college will become free for that student. The federal government will also provide low-cost bonds to community colleges as a means to accommodate more students by expanding their infrastructure. Chris Dodd recognizes that community colleges are the technical training grounds for individuals vital to communities -- nurses, teachers and first responders. Community colleges will also provide the technical training for our next generation of green workers.
