The Delta Grassroots Caucus (DGC) is a broad coalition of grassroots leaders in the eight-state Delta region. DGC is also a founding partner of the Economic Equality Caucus,
which advocates for economic equality across the USA.

Call for Increased Funding and Fair Policies for DRA and all 8 Regional Commissions in the USA

Posted on July 16, 2024 at 02:02 PM

The Delta Caucus and economic equality advocates across the country support the eight regional commissions that promote community and economic development in 40 states across the country.

We support not just the Delta Regional Authority but all eight regional commissions, and all of them merit increased funding and support. This is a collaborative and not a competitive effort among all regions.

Funding levels are all over the map: The funding levels, unfortunately, are a hodge-podge whereby some commissions get much greater amounts, some get much smaller amounts, and two commissions have no funding at all and so basically exist only on paper.

We know of no reasonable, unbiased person who would believe that this is a rational, fair system, but the basic problem is that very few people have focused on the eight commissions as a whole. Each region tends to focus—not surprisingly—on their home area. We are calling for a comprehensive look at the entire picture.​

We ask all Congressional, executive branch, state officials, and grassroots partners to focus on this situation and bring about a rational, fair policy based on objective criteria such as each region’s population, geographical size and characteristics, levels of poverty, and serious needs.

An approach that proclaims, “Fund my home region but who cares about the others” will fall flat on its face before the national focus of Congress and the national executive branch. It has to be inclusive and collaborative.

Clearly, all regional advocates agree that the funding should go in each area to the most economically distressed areas that most need help.

This is NOT “big spending” because all the commissions are either somewhat under-funded or severely under-funded, and two have no funds at all.

The total amount of funding for all the commissions put together is at present approximately $320 million, which is a tiny amount of the overall massive federal budget of about $6.5 trillion.

All these commissions combined make up less than 0.005 of the federal budget.

The states are also involved but most of the funding comes from the federal side.

A quick summary of the widely divergent, approximate funding and size of the regions in recent years:

1) ARC: $200 million

ARC operates in 423 counties in parts of 13 states from Mississippi to New York.

2)Northern Border Regional Commission: $40 million

Northern Border RC operates in four states: much of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine

3)Delta Regional Authority: $30 million

DRA operates in 252 counties and parishes in parts of 8 states

4) Southeast Crescent Regional Commission: $20 million

Southeast Crescent operates in 7 states: Florida, parts of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi

5) Denali Commission in Alaska: $15 million

Denali Commission operates in Alaska, with emphasis on economically distressed areas, often including indigenous populations

6) Southwest Border Regional Commission: $5 million

Operates along the tremendously lengthy border in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas

7) Northern Great Plains Commission: Authorization lapsed in FY 2018

Operates in six states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, and most of Missouri

Once received $1.5 million in FY 2004. No current authorization

8) Great Lakes Authority: Zero appropriations

Six states: all of Michigan, parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York

Some basic facts and background about each commission:

The Appalachian Regional Commission has the largest funding level at $200 million. This is logical since ARC has the largest area with 13 states, and is the oldest commission, having begun in the Kennedy-Johnson administration in the 1960s.

All the regions and their subregions have varying degrees of climate issues. Northern Appalachia, or course, has icy conditions in winter, and the southern parts have more extreme heat than most other regions.

B) The Northern Border Regional Commission has the next largest funding at $40 million in four states. It covers much of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

This is of course a substantially smaller region than Appalachia. As a northern region it obviously has icy conditions in winter.There are significant areas of poverty in up-state New York and elsewhere in this region.

C) The Delta Regional Authority has been relatively under-funded throughout its history. It currently has a budget of approximately $30 million working in eight states. This is a substantial improvement from the very low level of $5 million in 2004. Some political leaders called for its abolition in the early 2000s and occasionally thereafter, but advocates in the Delta and economic progress leaders have succeeded in blocking these efforts.

While all of these regions have serious economic distress, the Greater Delta is the most distressed among the regions.

Mississippi and Louisiana are the two most impoverished, with Arkansas, Kentucky, and Alabama coming in 5th, 6th and 7th – giving 5 out of the bottom 7 most impoverished in the region. Tennessee is 10th, giving the Delta six of the 10 poorest states.

Appalachia and the Southwest Border fare almost as badly as the Delta (with MS, AL, TN and KY having both Delta and Appalachian areas). The other regions also face serious economic distress in many areas.

The southern Greater Delta has severe heat for much of the year. The areas close to the Gulf of Mexico have severe storms coming off the water. There are some icy conditions in the northern and central areas but of course less than most other regions.

4) Southeast Crescent from Virginia to Florida and west to Mississippi covers parts of seven states. Coastal areas have storms coming from the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf. Most of this region of course does not have as much wintry conditions as most of the others do.

This is a large region with a relatively small budget of $20 million. Its size and some economically distressed areas should be considered in an overhaul of the budgets of the commissions and other forms of support for the regional entities.

5) The Denali Commission serves Alaska. However, many of the people served ​are economically distressed, including many indigenous people, and they have severe winter conditions much of the year. Their budget is $15 million.

6) The Southwest Border Regional Commission covers the immensely lengthy border areas from California through Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The border areas include many of the most impoverished areas in the country. This is one of the most seriously under-funded commissions and deserves a much larger budget.

Again as a starting point for analysis, if Appalachia has a budget of $200 million, a ballpark estimate of a more equitable budget for the Southwest Border could be approximately $130 million.

7) The Northern Great Plains commission serves a large region of six states from the Dakotas to Minnesota and down to most of Missouri. It had a tiny funding of $1.5 million in FY 2004. The authorization lapsed in FY 2018.

Obviously this region has wintry conditions to deal with every year and some seriously economically distressed areas. This is one of the two commissions that currently has no funding.

8) The Great Lakes Authority covers six states: all of Michigan, parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. It is obviously a large northern region with no appropriations.

This has to be collaborative among all the commissions and not competitive. We support all of them. The key is to inform people about this situation and get them to focus on it and improve it.