State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

In Search of Rural Jobs, States Weigh Strategy With Checkered Past

Stateline: This is part one of a two-part series.

In rural communities across the country, jobs are disappearing and people are moving away, driving a desperation that helped elect Donald Trump president.

But as state lawmakers look for ways to bring life to these long-struggling areas, many are falling prey to a complex economic development approach, pushed hard by investment firms that stand to benefit, that has failed to live up to its promises.

The so-called rural jobs bills have been proposed in at least 11 states this year, and last week in Utah, Gov. Gary Herbert, a Republican, signed one into law. Under the bills, state tax credits are awarded to companies that agree to invest in or loan money to funds set up by investment firms or other brokers. The funds then invest the money in rural businesses. The proposals are the latest iteration of an approach that at least 20 states and Washington, D.C., have turned to in the last three decades.

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