Too often, rural communities are left behind by policies that are made in the Washington bubble. Rural communities face challenges such as insufficient infrastructure, outdated technology, food insecurity and access to health care. Rural communities are seeing schools and hospitals close. While policies in Washington favor big agribusiness corporations, family farms are struggling to survive. Indiana ranks in the bottom ten in the country with ^[1]15.2% of Hoosier households struggling with food insecurity. Farmers are facing unprecedented challenges because of climate change. We need to see fundamental change in America’s agricultural and rural economic development policies. As your representative, we will help revitalize rural communities. To accomplish these objectives, I will support policies which address the following goals:

• Promote rural economic development initiatives including high-speed broadband internet, infrastructure upgrades, investments in affordable rural housing, and federal support for rural community banks and credit unions
• Incentivize business innovation by providing federal funding to rural small businesses
• Increase the number of apprenticeship programs for career and technical training to ensure that rural communities have access to nearby programs
• Promote immigration policies that work for both immigrants and business owners
• Empower rural communities and farmers to take a leading role in combating climate change
• Modernize rural infrastructure and upgrade services from contaminated water systems and broken roads
• Fix the teacher shortage in rural communities
• Expand worker protections for farm workers and domestic workers

^[1] https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/health-of-women-and-children/measure/food_insecurity_household/state/IN