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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Legislation now cosponsored by U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) would allow rural cooperatives to receive grants and disaster relief assistance without jeopardizing their tax-exempt status.
Hyde-Smith has thrown her support behind the Revitalizing Underdeveloped Rural Areas and Lands (RURAL) Act (S.1032). The bill would amend the Internal Revenue Code to ensure tax-exempt cooperatives retain their tax-exempt status if they use government grants and assistance, including rural broadband grants and FEMA disaster relief.
“Rural co-ops in Mississippi face growing demands for service as commerce depends on access to increased electrical service and high-speed internet,” Hyde-Smith said. “This legislation would ensure cooperatives will not have to choose between maintaining their critical tax-exempt status or accepting infrastructure grants and FEMA aid.”
The RURAL Act would apply to tax-exempt electric or telephone cooperatives that receive grants and contributions for providing, constructing, restoring, or relocating electric, communication, broadband, internet, or other utility facilities or services.
Hyde-Smith, as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Senate Agriculture Committee, has worked to expand the availability of resources from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other agencies to expand rural broadband and infrastructure.
The Electric Cooperatives of Mississippi supports S.1032, which is pending in the Senate Finance Committee.
