Project 2025, a plan aiming to alter America's system of checks and balances, has raised concerns regarding its potential impact on rural communities. The proposal seeks to transfer power from the general populace to politicians, judges, and corporations. Here are some specific ways Project 2025 could affect rural Americans.
The plan suggests eliminating the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs, which protect farmers from significant drops in crop prices or revenues. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, this would also ban farmers from receiving ARC and PLC payments in the same year they receive crop insurance indemnities, thus hindering their ability to plant subsequent crops. Additionally, it proposes making it harder for small and family farmers to access capital through Farm Service Agency loans and aims to eliminate crop export promotion programs like the Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development Program.
Project 2025 also plans to cut child care options by eliminating Head Start, a program that provides no-cost child care for over 780,000 low-income children in the United States. A previous analysis by CAP found that Head Start accounted for between 21% and 59% of all child care slots in rural communities across ten states.
Furthermore, Project 2025 calls for defunding public schools by eliminating the U.S. Department of Education and the Title I program. These funds would be redirected towards a private school voucher model under its "universal school choice" initiative. However, according to the National Coalition for Public Education: “Vouchers don’t provide an actual choice for students living in rural areas,” as many rural families have limited access to private schools compared to urban families.
The proposal also includes ending the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which offers free school meals in schools where at least 25% of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. This change would disproportionately affect rural students who are particularly vulnerable to food insecurity.
Additionally, Project 2025 proposes terminating the Small Business Administration’s direct lending program—the federal government’s largest source of disaster recovery funds—potentially hampering recovery efforts in rural areas prone to extreme weather events.
Another significant aspect is repealing unspent funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (BIL). Rural communities have benefited substantially from BIL through upgraded infrastructure and expanded broadband access. The Federal Communications Commission noted that prior to BIL's passage, rural areas were nearly 15 times more likely than urban areas to lack reliable broadband access.
Lastly, Project 2025 targets the Essential Air Service (EAS) program that supports commercial air carriers serving small airports in rural regions. The plan criticizes EAS for distorting commercial markets and proposes ending it entirely.
