Appalachian board faces elimination
Commission among 60 agencies, programs that could be cut.
When Donald Trump won Ohio last year, he did so in part by a careful and ardent wooing of Appalachia – a region of the state that has struggled even as the rest of the state bounced back from recession.
But in his first proposed budget as president, Trump has targeted a program that advocates say pulled the region out of utter destitution.
The Appalachian Regional Commission, established in March 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson, is among more than 60 agencies and programs that Trump’s proposed budget would eliminate.
The program has, historically, been a partner for Appalachian communities, providing federal dollars for everything from running water to education and retraining.
To those who support the end of the 52-year-old program, getting rid of it would eliminate duplicative funding, saving taxpayers from having to foot the bill for a program that brings economic development and infrastructure to Ohio and 12 other states, including all of West Virginia, and parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, North
and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia – region that’s home to more than 25 million people.
A struggling region
But to supporters, such a cut would mean the end of a lifeline to a part of America that struggles to this day.
“It’s unfair to taxpayers to single out 13 states for federal funding when there are places that are economically distressed as well that have to foot the bill,” said Michael Sargent, a policy analyst with the conservative Heritage Foundation.
“Literally, the ability to have toilets that flush and water that’s safe to drink is the result of the Appalachian Regional Commission,” said John Molinaro, president and CEO of the Appalachian Partnership for Economic Growth. He calls the program “one of the most successful efforts ever put forward by the federal government to impact the lives and livelihoods of rural America.”
In Ohio, that means 32 counties – a swath of east- ern Ohio that stretches from the northeast corner of the state, down through the coal country of southern Ohio – have access to a pot of federal funding that has been
used for everything from water and sewer develop- ment to community colleges to adding infrastructure to land for economic development.
The program – about $150 million – has traditionally enjoyed broad bipartisan support, and early indications are that Congress once again will fight for the program: In late March, both Ohio senators were among 10 senators that signed a let- ter to Trump in support for the commission.
“It’s made people’s lives better in a part of the country we don’t pay enough attention to,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.
Programs fill the gap
But others say that other federal programs exist to fill in the gap.
“Politicians like to cut ribbons on projects,” Sargent
said. “But there are better ways to generate economic growth.”
In 2016, Ohio – which matches its federal dollars with state money – admin- istered 50 App alachian Regional Commission programs, using the $4 million in federal dollars as seed money to spur a $61.6 mil- lion investment in the region. The investment resulted in 748 new jobs and 1,782 jobs retained in the region, according to a report on ARC funding by the four local development organizations that administer the program.
The projects ran the gamut. In Washington County, a fed- eral ARC grant of $87,900 will train 75 students learning to become automotive, diesel
and motorcycle or power sports technicians.
A federal grant helped build an access road that, combined with other money, helped a tire mold manufacturing company with 60 jobs resume production in Athens.
And in Pike County, the Appalachian Regional Commission awarded $142,715 to the Community Action Committee of Pike County to buy dental equipment for the Jackson County Health Center, a nearby health cen- ter serving a low-income population.
Long before those proj- ects, though, the dollars were used for the very rudi
mentary: Water and sewer. Dollars for highways. It has, said Bret Allphin, the development director for the Buckeye Hills-Hocking Valley Regional Development District, been lifeblood for a region that has struggled for generations.
“If they have public water, if they have sewer, if they have four-lane highways, if they have training oppor- tunities, it’s probably a safe bet in the last 50 years ARC contributed to one of those, if not many or all,” he said.
When the Appalachian Regional Commission was established as part of Johnson’s “Great Society,” lawmakers declared that Appa- lachia, “while abundant in natural resources and rich in potential, lags behind the rest of the nation in its eco- nomic growth.”
But what really made the difference was another presidential campaign that landed in Appalachia. When John F. Kennedy stopped in the region as part of his 1960 presidential campaign, he was stunned by the poverty of the region.
Allphin said the region became a campaign prom- ise: Like Trump, Kennedy promised to improve the lives of those living in the region, bringing in jobs and infrastructure. Kennedy died before he could fulfill that promise, but Johnson followed up, establishing the commission in 1965.
Today, Allphin said, the program represents 17 percent of Ohio’s population – covering a land mass larger
than Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island combined.
His organization, based in Marietta, works with com- munities to figure out which needs best fit the ARC mission. In some cases, they’re used to develop l and – extending water and sewer lines, making road improve
ments — so that businesses can more easily locate in Appalachia.
“Nobody can start a business in a field with no utilities or no other amenities to make that site desirable,” he said.
In the time that ARC has been in effect, he said, the poverty rate has been cut in half from 31 to 17 percent in the 13-state region. The percent of adults with a high school diploma has increased more than 150 percent. And infant mortality has been reduced by two-thirds due to rural health care and other primary care facilities.
Still, the Ohio counties represented by the commission have the highest unemploy
ment in the state, with six counties – Adams, Jackson, Meigs, Morgan, Noble and Monroe – having unemploy
ment higher than nine percent as of February. There’s been progress, said Allphin, but
there’s still much to be done. “I’ve heard some people say, ‘we’ve invested in ARC and Appalachia is still behind. Why are we still doing it?’” he said. “I think that’s a valid argument but I would also offer this: What ARC is endeavoring to do is a grand undertaking. I would offer that 50 years to accomplish that in the scope of history is not very long.”
Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Marietta, who represents a chunk of Appalachia, said he understands that Trump wants to “address the spending disease in Washington.”
But the House Budget Committee member said he doubts Congress would permit the program to be eliminated.
“We have no intention of pulling funding for the Appalachian Region Commission,” he said.