Rural Service and Workforce Corps Act

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.