**Kuster led bipartisan legislation to extend NBRC funding in the 2018 Farm Bill, the last time the Commission’s funding has been reauthorized by Congress**

**Kuster helped secure $150 million for the NBRC in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law last year**

Washington, D.C. — Today, Rep. Annie Kuster (NH-02) introduced the bipartisan Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC) Reauthorization Act of 2022 to extend the authorization of the NBRC for ten years while making additional reforms to encourage business retention and expansion. This legislation will strengthen both federal and state efforts to spur job creation and economic development in some of the most rural parts of America’s northeast. Kuster was joined by Representatives John Katko (R-NY), Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Chris Pappas (D-NH), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Chellie Pingree (D-ME) in introducing this bill.

“The Northern Border Regional Commission plays a critical role in driving economic growth and development in our rural communities and has leveraged millions of dollars in funding to create jobs right here in New Hampshire,” said Rep. Kuster. “I’m proud to introduce legislation to reauthorize the NBRC, increase its funding, expand its reach to include Merrimack County, and address workforce development and retention needs in the region, including support for health care and child care facilities and affordable housing. I look forward to working with my colleagues across the aisle to advance this bill and support our communities for generations to come.”

The NBRC Reauthorization Act of 2022:

• Would provide a ten-year authorization extension for the NBRC and increase the annual appropriation cap from $33 million to $50 million for the first 5 years, and $60 million for the next 5 years.
• Adds Merrimack County, NH, and Lincoln County, ME, to the list of counties eligible to receive funds from the NBRC.
• Reauthorizes the State Capacity Building Grant Program, a program established in 2018 to further strengthen investment in local high-impact projects. Through this program, NBRC states provide additional funds to local economic and community development organizations to improve the development of projects that will support business retention and expansion, infrastructure development, and job creation.
• Enables the NBRC to support projects that address the vulnerabilities of transportation and other public infrastructure assets to climate change.
• Provides the NBRC with a wider array of options for projects to address unique challenges facing the region’s rural workforce, including:
• Health care and child care. The bill will broaden the NBRC’s ability to fund projects that invest in child care and health care needs. This includes projects to attract, train and retain qualified health care or child care personnel. The legislation also directs the Commission to place an emphasis on projects to combat substance use disorders from opioid and methamphetamine use.
• Affordable housing. The legislation also provides the NBRC with the ability to support projects that facilitate the construction or rehabilitation of housing to meet the needs of low- to middle-income families and individuals in the region.

Authorized by Congress in 2008, the NBRC is a federal-state partnership for economic and community development in New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, and New York. Rural regions in these states have benefitted from NBRC investments that have helped to develop public infrastructure, promote tourism, assist in job training activities, and promote the use of renewable energy sources in communities that have historically struggled to attract public and private investment. With the NBRC’s record of successful investments across the region, and as our communities work to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is more important than ever for Congress to renew its commitment to the economic revitalization of the Northern Border states.

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