§2.Rural Service and Workforce Corps Program
This section establishes the Rural Service and Workforce Corps Program, to be designed by the Secretary of Agriculture and modeled after the service-for-benefits framework of the National Health Service Corps (i.e., scholarships, loan repayments, and stipends for service in underserved areas). The program provides scholarships, tuition assistance, student loan repayment, stipends or wage support during service, and relocation and retention incentives in exchange for three years of service in targeted rural areas, prioritizing workforce shortages in (1) health care (including primary care, behavioral health, dental, and emergency services); (2) skilled trades (e.g., electricians, plumbers, HVAC, welding, construction); (3) energy infrastructure (e.g., lineworkers, renewable energy technicians, grid operators); (4) utilities and public works (e.g., water and wastewater operators, broadband technicians); and (5) other sectors with aging workforces, as updated periodically in consultation with the Secretary of Labor.
Targeted rural areas include those categorized by USDA's Economic Research Service as persistent-poverty counties, designated by HHS's Health Resources and Services Administration as health professional shortage areas, or containing Indian tribal, Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian communities. Public, nonprofit, cooperative, tribal, and private employers meeting USDA-established wage and training standards (developed with the Secretary of Labor) may participate.
The Secretary of Agriculture administers the program in consultation with the Secretaries of Education (scholarships, tuition, loans), Labor (stipends, wages, incentives), Health and Human Services (health care), Energy (energy and utilities), and other relevant agency heads. Within four years of enactment, the Secretary must report to Congress on the first three-year service cohort, including its size, placement by sector, geography, employer type, and retention rate in placement areas; interagency coordination challenges; and program improvement recommendations.