U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue appointed Anne Hazlett as the Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development amid USDA restructuring on rural development issues. On June 12, 2017, hundreds of local governments, businesses, and rural development organizations co-authored a letter Congress condemning the USDA’s elimination of the Rural Development Mission Area, and the President’s fiscal year 2018 budget request to eliminate funding for numerous USDA Rural Development programs.
The letter was written in anticipation of Secretary Perdue’s testimony before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture and Rural Development regarding the President’s budget for the USDA. The budget request is attracting concern over its $3 billion cut in program financing and 20 percent to the USDA’s discretionary spending. If approved, this budget would cut funding for programs that finance water and waste disposal systems, rural housing development, and grants for rural businesses.