U.S. Elections Analysis 2024: Key Outcomes & Insights for Counties

The Farm Bill supports vital investments in infrastructure, economic development, workforce training, nutrition, and conservation in underserved rural communities. Counties urge a long-term reauthorization of the Farm Bill before the 2018 version expires at the end of 2024, emphasizing the importance of securing key provisions like the Rural Partnership and Prosperity Act (S. 3309/H.R. 7444), the Expanding Childcare in Rural America Act (S. 1867/H.R. 3992), and the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act (S. 2581/H.R. 5030). These measures would enhance rural development, childcare access, and extend the SRS program to 2026, and counties will continue working with federal partners to pass a bipartisan Farm Bill that includes these priorities.

Learn more

Although Medicaid reimbursements have historically fallen below costs, they remain crucial for county-supported hospitals. To offset these revenue gaps, the federal government provides Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments to hospitals that serve high numbers of Medicaid patients. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) aimed to reduce the uninsured population and, consequently, the need for Medicaid DSH payments. Thus, it directed reductions in DSH allotments, initially set to decrease incrementally from $500 million in FY2014 to $5.6 billion in FY2019. However, these reductions have been delayed and modified by over a dozen laws, most recently under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024. Under current law, DSH reductions are scheduled from FY2025 to FY2027. Counties are urging Congress to repeal or delay these reductions, which are set to begin January 1, 2025, so that local hospitals have the revenue streams needed to keep their doors open. 

Learn More

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), launched in 2021 under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, provided affordable internet access to 23 million households by offering up to $30 per month for service and a $100 discount for devices. The program helped bridge the digital divide by enabling access to virtual education, telehealth, and remote work. However, funding for the ACP ended in May 2024, and counties urge Congress to support passage of the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act of 2024 (H.R. 6929/S.3565) to allocate additional funds to restore these vital services.

Learn more

The Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) and Secure Rural Schools (SRS) programs provide essential funding to counties with significant federal land and forests, compensating them for the inability to collect taxes on these lands while still providing critical services like infrastructure maintenance, law enforcement, and wildfire response. Counties urge Congress to fully fund the PILT program and enact a long-term solution for SRS, which expired in late 2023, causing an 80 percent reduction in funding for affected counties. Furthermore, counties also support the swift passage of the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act of 2023 (S. 2581/H.R. 5030) to ensure continued revenue-sharing payments to forested counties.

Learn more

Counties rely on federal funding determined through the annual appropriations process to provide vital services to our residents. This includes funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program, full funding for the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), increased funding for Help America Vote Act (HAVA) grants for election administration, and more. As such, counties urge Congress to reach an agreement on long term appropriations to provide counties funding certainty when planning budgets and preparing to deliver essential services.

Learn more

The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) is the only federal agency with a mission focused solely on private sector job creation in distressed areas. EDA has achieved an impressive track record of making strategic investments and building partnerships that help regions and communities respond to shifts in international markets, address severe unemployment challenges and recover from plant closures, major natural disasters and other chronic, sudden or severe economic hardships. Going into the November elections, an amendment to reauthorize the EDA was adopted by the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which will now be negotiated between the House and Senate SASC leadership for its official inclusion. Counties urge Congress to include this amendment and reauthorize the EDA.

Learn more

Title IV-B of the Social Security Act authorizes formula grants that provide flexible funding to enhance the wellbeing of children and families through prevention services, child protection, family preservation, child welfare workforce training, reunification services and adoption promotion and support. Counties urge Congress to pass the bipartisan Protecting America's Children by Strengthening Families Act (H.R. 9076), a comprehensive package that will modernize and strengthen child welfare and child support programs through new resources to support child welfare caseworkers, new flexibility to serve families experiencing poverty, and ensure continuity of operations for county child support enforcement agencies.

Learn more

In 2023, over 800 counties experienced at least one federally declared disaster and the nation set a record for most billion-dollar disasters. Recently, Hurricanes Helene and Milton have devasted the southeast region of the country, causing tragic loss of life and widespread destruction to locally owned infrastructure and homes. With communities coast to coast in the midst of recovery efforts, counties urge Congress to immediately pass a disaster supplemental package that includes funding for programs such as the Small Business Administration’s Disaster Loan Program, U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery Program. All these programs provide critical resources to impacted areas, without which we would not be able to meet the recovery needs of our communities and residents. 

Learn More