05/07/07 Rural development dollars

Senator Mike Crapo says media reports of Rural Development funding for affluent areas are inaccurate. Crapo says those are small communities that need money to improve aging water and sewer systems and they need broadband technology for their economic vitality. Crapo says wind power development, Head Start programs and affordable housing have all come to Idaho through Rural Development funds. Idaho Rural Development state director Mike Field says Idahoans qualify for funding in one of three ways. FIELD "We have a grant program and there's very little grant money available anymore and that goes to the truly needy individuals or communities that we serve in rural communities. The next category is direct money. There's fewer of those dollars anymore and now you're seeing us move into what we call the guaranteed program where we guarantee a bank's loan to an individual or a to community or to a business in a rural area so that the bank can take the risk to loan to that person." Rural Development spent 106 million dollars in Idaho during fiscal year 2006. Field says one obstacle he must constantly fight is the rising cost of land in Idaho, thanks to the state's continued growth. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott