The Kentucky General Assembly is moving to establish a program to assist rural communities to tap into federal grant funds.
House Bill nine, unanimously approved in the House, requires the State Department for Local Government to partner with Area Development Districts across the Commonwealth. Hannah Conover is the director of Grant Ready Kentucky. Conover said it would be transformative.
“So, there’s tremendous opportunity, but unfortunately because we have a lot of small towns, they don’t have the resources to really take advantage of those opportunities. So, we need to bolster their resources,” said Conover.
Conover said these additional federal grant funds could be especially beneficial to areas in eastern and western Kentucky hit by natural disasters.
Bill Sponsor Richard Heath agrees areas hit by tornadoes and flooding need additional support.
“This is an opportunity for those counties to apply for a grant, to get some money for the things that were not included in the SAFE fund. And there’s a huge need for those,” said Heath.
The bill, now in the Senate, calls for a two-million-dollar appropriation. Conover hopes to see that grow into the hundreds of millions of dollars during next year’s session.
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