Rural Service and Workforce Corps Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7201 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7201

   To establish a program to fill critical rural workforce shortages
  through an education assistance and loan repayment in exchange for
       service in designated rural areas, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 22, 2026

  Ms. Bynum introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Education
   and Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

   To establish a program to fill critical rural workforce shortages
  through an education assistance and loan repayment in exchange for
       service in designated rural areas, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Rural Service and Workforce Corps
Act''.

SEC. 2. RURAL SERVICE AND WORKFORCE CORPS PROGRAM.

    (a) Design.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall design
        a program to be known as the ``Rural Service and Workforce
        Corps Program'', modeled after the service-for-benefits
        framework of the National Health Service Corps, to fill
        critical workforce shortages in targeted rural areas, through
        the provision of scholarships, tuition assistance, student loan
        repayment, stipends or wage support during service, and
        relocation and retention incentives in exchange for 3 years of
        service in a rural area designated by the Secretary.
            (2) Priority employment sectors.--
                    (A) In general.--The program shall be designed to
                prioritize filling workforce shortages in the following
                employment sectors, subject to subparagraph (B):
                            (i) Health care, including primary care,
                        behavioral health, dental, and emergency
                        services.
                            (ii) Skilled trades, such as electricians,
                        plumbers, heating, ventilation, and air
                        conditioning, welding, and construction.
                            (iii) Energy infrastructure, such as
                        lineworkers, renewable energy technicians, grid
                        operators.
                            (iv) Utilities and public works, such as
                        water and wastewater operators and broadband
                        technicians.
                            (v) Other sectors with aging workforces, as
                        determined by the Secretary of Labor.
                    (B) Updating.--The Secretary of Agriculture, in
                consultation with the Secretary of Labor, shall, from
                time to time, update the employment sectors to be
                prioritized under subparagraph (A), as necessary to
                ensure that the program prioritizes any sector facing
                an aging workforce and a limited recruitment pipeline.
            (3) Targeted rural areas.--The program shall be designed to
        target any rural area--
                    (A) categorized by the Economic Research Service of
                the Department of Agriculture as a persistent poverty
                county;
                    (B) designated by the Health Resources and Services
                Administration of the Department of Health and Human
                Services as a health professional shortage area; or
                    (C) in which an Indian tribal, an Alaska Native, or
                a Native Hawaiian community resides.
            (4) Employer participation.--The program shall be designed
        to allow public, nonprofit, cooperative, tribal, and private
        employers that meet such wage and training standards as the
        Secretary of Agriculture shall establish, in consultation with
        the Secretary of Labor, to participate in the program.
    (b) Administration.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall carry out
the program in consultation with--
            (1) the Secretary of Education, with respect to the
        provision of scholarships, tuition assistance, and student loan
        repayment;
            (2) the Secretary of Labor, with respect to the provision
        of stipends or wage support during service, and relocation and
        retention incentives;
            (3) the Secretary of Health and Human Services, with
        respect to the health care employment sector;
            (4) the Secretary of Energy, with respect to the energy
        infrastructure and utilities employment sectors; and
            (5) the heads of other Federal departments and agencies,
        with respect to any matter calling for the expertise of the
        relevant department or agency.
    (c) Reports.--Within 4 years after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall prepare and submit to the
Congress a written report on the implementation and effectiveness of
the program provided for in this Act, which shall--
            (1) include information, with respect to the 1st cohort
        subject to the 3-year service requirement under the program,
        on--
                    (A) the number of persons in the cohort;
                    (B) the employment sectors in which a member of the
                cohort has been placed;
                    (C) the geographical spread of the placements;
                    (D) the types of employers referred to in
                subsection (a)(4) with whom a member of the cohort has
                been placed;
                    (E) the number of the placements; and
                    (F) the percentage of the cohort who remain in the
                geographic area in which placed;
            (2) address any challenges arising from interagency
        coordination; and
            (3) include recommendations for improvements in the
        program.
    (d) Definition of Rural Area.--In this section, the term ``rural
area'' has the meaning given the term in subparagraph (A) of section
343(a)(13) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, subject
to subparagraphs (D) and (F) of such section.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act shall take effect on the date that is 1 year after the
date of the enactment of this Act.
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