How to Use this Site
This document is intended to help you, the reader, understand some of your options for advancing state-level policy that could improve the lives of people living and working in rural communities. The ideas included are not exhaustive and are provided as examples for inspiration. The devil can be in the details with policy, and it is always recommended to work with local advocates who have a strong understanding of the nuances of a given state’s laws.
It is also important to note that legislation is not the only avenue for change. As a policymaker, you may be able to address some of your community’s issues through other means, including appropriations and regulatory change. Directing new or expanded funding to an area of need or working with state agencies to write or enforce regulations or to clarify complicated language can have transformative impacts. While this document focuses primarily on legislation, we have included several examples of this kind; these alternative avenues are useful to keep in mind.
Additionally, some of these policies could be enacted at the local or county level, and advocates may want to incorporate some of these ideas into campaigns.
The document is divided broadly into four focus areas. Each focus area includes discussion of several issue areas, with explanation and analysis, policy priorities, and examples of introduced or enacted policy from various states for each, as seen below.

Focus Areas
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- About
- Focus Areas
- Protect Fundamental Freedoms and End Discrimination
- Invest in Rural Communities
- Fairness in Funding
- Ensure Health Care Access for All
- Building Out Broadband Reliability and Access
- Invest in a Clean Energy Transition for Rural Communities
- Address the Affordable Housing Crisis in Rural Communities
- Support Small Business and Rural Main Street
- Create Equitable Access to Licensing
- Expand Support for Regional Food Economies
- Expand Access to Credit For Farm Businesses
- Support Equitable Access to Farmland
- Support Agriculture and Worker Cooperatives
- Rein in Corporate Monopolies
- Strengthen Economic Competition
- Stop Rural Preemption and Anti-Whistleblower Laws: “Right to Farm” & “Ag-Gag”
- Reform Mandatory Commodity Checkoff Programs
- Regulate Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)
- Stop Taxpayer Funding of Industrial Animal Agriculture
- Limit Offshore Industrial Aquaculture
- Ensure Equal Rights for Food and Farm Workers
- Build Sustainable Economies
- Invest in Rural Community Livability
- Protect Rural Air, Water, and Biodiversity
- Support and Invest in the Growing Industrial Hemp Economy
- Support Foresters, Farmers, and Ranchers Using Responsible, Climate-Friendly Land Practices
- Reduce Waste in the Food Supply Chain
- Invest in Regional Food & Farm Infrastructure
- Toolkits
- Communication
- Growing Equitable Food Systems
- Promoting Environmental Stewardship
- Building Rural Infrastructure
- Reigning in Corporate Monopolies
- Promoting Fair Economic Competition
- Investing in Rural Livability
- Advancing Rural America’s Freedom to Vote
- Access to Rural Economic Opportunity
- Providing Healthcare for ALL
- Investing in Sustainable Rural Development
- Organizing
- Communication
- Contact