Appalachian aid: expendable or vital?

WASHINGTON — When Donald Trump won Ohio in November, he did so in part by a careful and ardent wooing of Appalachia — a region that has struggled even as much of the rest of the state bounced back from the recession.

But in his first proposed budget, the new president has targeted an agency 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 budget would eliminate.

The commission historically has been a partner for Appalachian communities, providing federal dollars for initiatives ranging from running water to education and retraining.

Those who support the end of the 52-yearold program say that would eliminate duplicative funding, saving taxpayers in Columbus and other regions from having to foot the bill for bringing economic development and infrastructure to a sizable part of Ohio and at least parts of 12 other states. That sprawling region is home to more than 25 million people.

“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.

But to supporters, such a cut would mean the end of a lifeline to part of America that struggles to this day.

“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, 32 counties — a swath of eastern Ohio that stretches from the northeast corner of the state through the coal country of southern Ohio — have access to a pot of federal funding that has been used for programs such as water and sewer development, community colleges, adding infrastructure and buying land for economic development.

The $150 million program has traditionally enjoyed broad bipartisan support, and early indications are that Congress once again

—Bret Allphin, Buckeye Hills-Hocking Valley Regional Development District

will fight to keep it. In late March, both Ohio senators were among 10 who signed a letter to Trump in support of 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.

But critics say 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 — administered 50 Appalachian Regional Commission programs, using the $4 million in federal dollars as seed money to spur a $61.6 million investment in the region. The investment resulted in 748 new jobs and 1,782 jobs retained in the region, according to a report on commission funding by the four local development organizations that administer the program.

The projects ran the gamut. In Washington County, a commission grant of $87,900 will train 75 students learning to become automotive, diesel and motorcycle or powersports technicians.

Another 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 the commission awarded $142,715 to a community-action committee to buy dental equipment for a health center in Jackson County that serves a low-income population.

The commission has provided lifeblood for a region that has struggled for generations, said Bret Allphin, the development director for the Buckeye HillsHocking Valley Regional Development District.

“If they have public water, if they have sewer, if they have four-lane highways, if they have training opportunities, it’s probably a safe bet in the last 50 years ARC contributed to one of those, if not many or all,” he said.

The commission represents 17 percent of Ohio’s population, covering a geographic area in the state larger than Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island combined, Allphin said.

Since the commission was created, he said, the poverty rate in the 13-state region has been cut from 31 percent to 17 percent. The percentage of adults with a high school diploma has increased by more than 150 percent. And infant mortality has been reduced by two-thirds because of improved rural health care and other primary-care facilities.

Still, the Ohio counties represented by the commission have the highest unemployment in the state.

“I’ve heard some people say, ‘We’ve invested in ARC, and Appalachia is still behind. Why are we still doing it?’” Allphin 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 large 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 that Congress will permit the program to be eliminated.

“We have no intention of pulling funding for the Appalachian Regional Commission,” he said.