RICKETTS WANTS TO BEEF UP FEDERAL PROGRAM THAT GROWS SMALL RURAL BUSINESSES

OMAHA — A federal program to help boost small rural businesses would be extended and enhanced under a bipartisan bill to be introduced Thursday by U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., and a Democratic colleague from Minnesota.

The Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program — created in the 2008 Farm Bill and overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture — provides low-interest loans to eligible development organizations. Those funds fuel revolving loans that provide help to qualified rural microenterprises.

Currently, the program relies on annual appropriations. The Senate proposal pushed by Ricketts and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., would extend the program for five years so it no longer would require annual approval, a Ricketts spokesman said.

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