A group of Appalachian businesses, organizations and local lawmakers are asking Congress to oppose proposed funding cuts to the Appalachian Regional Commission.
The ARC is an economic development partnership between the federal government and the 13 states that include parts of Appalachia. Cuts proposed by President Trump could slash funding for next fiscal year from $200 million to just $14 million dollars.
The commission promotes development and tourism, but it also helps create local jobs.
Chelsea Barnes is the Director of Government Affairs for Appalachian Voices, a regional nonprofit mostly focused on transitioning the region to clean energy. She says that work is vital to the region.
“There's a lot of programs that are supported by ARC to help folks get help for addiction, and then return to the workforce. That's one of the major challenges that we have in Appalachia, is not enough available people to do the work, to attract good jobs,” she said.
Around 80 organizations sent a letter to Congress asking the body to keep those funds intact.
Barnes says the cut would strip the commission to keep staffing and operations, but without much other resources.
“It's pretty unworkable or kind of silly to just keep staff, but not actually have the staff doing anything meaningful in the region,” Barnes said.
Lawmakers like Republican Senator Mitch McConnell and Representative Hal Rogers have voiced their support of ARC in the past. Barnes hopes pushback from Appalachian lawmakers would keep funding in place.
