text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  
      This Act may be cited as the ``Appalachian Regional Commission 
  Reform Act''.
  
  SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
  
      (a) Headquarters.--Congress finds that--
              (1) regional commissions, such as the Delta Regional 
          Authority, the Denali Commission, and the Northern Border 
          Regional Commission, are each headquartered in their respective 
          region;
              (2) headquartering regional commissions within the region 
          affected is a sensible approach to ensure that the commissions 
          are housed in more affordable locations than the District of 
          Columbia, thereby reducing administrative overhead and making 
          the commissions closer and more accountable to the people the 
          commissions were designed to serve;
              (3) the Appalachian Regional Commission (referred to in 
          this Act as the ``Commission'') is not headquartered in 
          Appalachia but in Washington, DC; and
              (4) the headquarters of the Commission should be relocated 
          from the District of Columbia to a more affordable location in 
          the Appalachian region so that it is closer and more 
          accountable to the people the Commission was designed to serve.
      (b) Performance.--Congress finds that--
              (1) the Commission was created to help foster economic 
          opportunity and close health and educational disparities in a 
          geographic region of the United States beleaguered by 
          persistent poverty and high unemployment;
              (2) the Commission remains the sole Federal agency focused 
          singularly on economic revitalization in the Appalachian 
          region;
              (3) in 1998, Congress charged the Commission with 
          ``address[ing] the needs of severely and persistently 
          distressed areas of the Appalachian region and focus[ing] 
          special attention on the areas of greatest need'';
              (4) the Commission has long been criticized for its 
          shortcomings in fulfilling this mission, including in--
                      (A) a 1999 study titled ``Mountain Money: Federal 
                  Tax Dollars Miss the Mark in Core Appalachia'' by Mark 
                  Ferenchik and Jill Ripenhoff for the Columbus Dispatch; 
                  and
                      (B) a 2008 book titled ``Uneven Ground: Appalachia 
                  Since 1945'' by Ronald D. Eller;
              (5) in 2004, the Office of Management and Budget noted the 
          importance of the Commission ``[f]ocusing efforts on . . . 
          targeting assistance to areas of distress'';
              (6) in 2017, Citizens Against Government Waste 
          characterized the programming of the Commission as duplicative 
          and called for drastic reductions in the budget of the 
          Commission;
              (7) in 2017, the Office of Management and Budget, citing a 
          Government Accountability Office study, concluded that the 
          Commission should be abolished, and that conclusion was 
          reflected in the fiscal year 2018 budget request submitted by 
          the President;
              (8) these recent actions reflect a growing chorus that the 
          Commission should be reformed; and
              (9) therefore, given the long-recognized shortcomings of 
          the Commission, the long-standing criticism of the Commission, 
          and the need to ensure its optimal performance, the time has 
          arrived for the Commission to be reformed.
      (c) Persistent Poverty.--Congress finds that--
              (1) using 1960 data, the Commission (which was created in 
          1965) concluded that there were 214 distressed counties in the 
          Appalachian region;
              (2) in 2017, according to the Commission, there are 84 
          distressed counties in the Appalachian region, reflecting the 
          areas of most persistent poverty in the region; and
              (3) therefore, the Commission should be reformed to focus 
          its attention on the areas of most persistent poverty in the 
          region.
      (d) Area Development Funding for Distressed Counties.--Congress 
  finds that--
              (1) according to the study by the Columbus Dispatch 
          referred to in subsection (b)(4)(A), of the 22,169 grants 
          issued by the Commission from fiscal year 1966 through fiscal 
          year 1998, none of the 5 counties that received the most 
          Commission funding was considered distressed, and more than \1/
          4\ of all Commission spending during that period went to States 
          with few, if any, distressed counties;
              (2) according to author Ronald D. Eller in 2014, ``[the 
          Commission] policies have concentrated resources in a select 
          few `growth centers' in the [Appalachian] region, expanding 
          services to the poor and growing the mountain middle class, but 
          doing little to alter conditions in the most rural distressed 
          counties or to address systemic political or economic 
          inequalities throughout Appalachia'';
              (3) until 1995, the Commission allocated up to 20 percent 
          of its area development grants for use in distressed counties;
              (4) following instructions given to the Commission by the 
          Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House of 
          Representatives in 1995, this allocation was increased by the 
          Commission to 30 percent;
              (5) section 7.5(c) of the Code of the Commission (as in 
          effect on the date of enactment of this Act) reflects this 1995 
          policy change and states that the Commission ``will allocate up 
          to 30 percent of Commission area development funds for use in 
          distressed counties'', even though, according to the 
          Commission's public representations, economic conditions in 
          distressed areas of the Appalachian region have not greatly 
          improved since the 1960s;
              (6) given the persistent levels of poverty in the 
          distressed counties in the Appalachian region, more area 
          development funding and emphasis should be devoted to those 
          counties; and
              (7) therefore, the allocation described in paragraph (3) 
          should be increased to 60 percent.
      (e) Grant Expenditures.--Congress finds that--
              (1) section 14524(d) of title 40, United States Code, 
          provides that ``not less than 50 percent of the amount of grant 
          expenditures the Commission approves shall support activities 
          or projects that benefit severely and persistently distressed 
          counties and areas'';
              (2) given the persistent levels of poverty in the 
          distressed counties in the Appalachian region, more grant 
          expenditures and emphasis should be devoted to those counties; 
          and
              (3) therefore, the 50 percent threshold in section 14524(d) 
          of title 40, United States Code, should be increased to 60 
          percent.
  
  SEC. 3. MISSION OF THE APPALACHIAN REGIONAL COMMISSION.
  
      Section 14301 of title 40, United States Code, is amended by 
  striking subsection (a) and inserting the following:
      ``(a) Establishment and Mission.--
              ``(1) Establishment.--There is an Appalachian Regional 
          Commission (referred to in this chapter as the `Commission').
              ``(2) Mission.--The mission of the Commission shall be to 
          focus primarily on poverty reduction and economic development 
          in areas in the Appalachian region with the most persistent 
          poverty.''.
  
  SEC. 4. HEADQUARTERS OF THE APPALACHIAN REGIONAL COMMISSION.
  
      (a) In General.--Section 14301 of title 40, United States Code, is 
  amended by adding at the end the following:
      ``(g) Headquarters.--The headquarters of the Commission shall be 
  located in the Appalachian region.''.
      (b) Implementation.--The Federal Cochairman of the Commission shall 
  take such actions as may be necessary to carry out the amendment made 
  by subsection (a).
  
  SEC. 5. GRANT EXPENDITURES.
  
      Section 14524(d) of title 40, United States Code, is amended by 
  striking ``50 percent'' and inserting ``60 percent''.
  
  SEC. 6. AREA DEVELOPMENT FUNDS FOR DISTRESSED COUNTIES.
  
      Section 14526(b) of title 40, United States Code, is amended--
              (1) by striking ``In program and'' and inserting the 
          following:
              ``(1) In general.--In program and''; and
              (2) by adding at the end the following:
              ``(2) Area development funds.--
                      ``(A) In general.--Of the funds made available for 
                  each fiscal year for the Area Development Program of 
                  the Commission, the Commission shall allocate not less 
                  than 60 percent for projects in counties for which a 
                  distressed county designation is in effect under this 
                  section.
                      ``(B) Methodology.--The methodology for determining 
                  whether a county is designated as a distressed county 
                  under subsection (a)(1)(A) shall be the methodology in 
                  effect on the day before the date of enactment of the 
                  Appalachian Regional Commission Reform Act.
              ``(3) Report.--The Commission shall submit an annual report 
          that describes the allocation of funds, in dollar amounts and 
          percentage of total appropriations, for the Area Development 
          Program to counties described in paragraph (2) to--
                      ``(A) the Speaker of the House of Representatives;
                      ``(B) the minority leader of the House of 
                  Representatives;
                      ``(C) the majority leader of the Senate;
                      ``(D) the minority leader of the Senate;
                      ``(E) the Committee on Appropriations of the House 
                  of Representatives;
                      ``(F) the Committee on Appropriations of the 
                  Senate;
                      ``(G) the Committee on Transportation and 
                  Infrastructure of the House of Representatives; and
                      ``(H) the Committee on Environment and Public Works 
                  of the Senate.''.
target: Appalachian Regional Commission Reform Act This bill declares that the mission of the Appalachian Regional Commission shall be to focus primarily on poverty reduction and economic development in areas in the Appalachian region with the most persistent poverty. The headquarters of the commission shall be located in that region. The bill increases from 50% to 60% the minimum amount of the grant expenditures approved by the commission that shall support activities or projects that benefit severely and persistently distressed counties and areas. The commission shall: (1) allocate at least 60% of the funds made available each fiscal year for its Area Development Program for projects in counties designated as distressed, and (2) submit an annual report on the allocation of program funds to such counties. 
feat_title: Appalachian Regional Commission Reform Act