Barr's HELP Rural Communities Act Passes House with Broad Bipartisan Support

Press Release

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 2672, the Helping Expand Lending Practices in Rural Communities Act, or the HELP Rural Communities Act. H.R. 2672 is legislation introduced by Congressman Andy Barr that would provide individuals in rural areas like Bath County, Kentucky, the right to petition for the area to be properly reclassified as "rural" and relieve the local community banks from burdensome regulations that unfairly limit their ability to lend and help create jobs in their communities.

"I am glad that the House of Representatives came together and in a rare display of bipartisanship, passed another of my pragmatic solutions to help families and businesses access affordable credit," said U.S. Representative Andy Barr (R-KY). "I am pleased that every Member of the House agreed with how logical this legislation is and supported its immediate passage by unanimous voice vote. I appreciate Congressman Ruben Hinojosa's input, which was instrumental to passing this important legislation, and I am glad that we can work together to advance commonsense solutions for our local communities."

"I want to thank Congressman Barr for his work on this very important bill, and for including the changes that I proposed," said U.S. Representative Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX). "Defining "rural' on a county-level basis is too arbitrary, given the large size of counties in Texas and other Western states. They are rural by definition and should be recognized as such. We need to ensure that community banks and credit unions are not prevented from investing in such rural communities. I am very pleased that this bipartisan bill will give many U.S. citizens the opportunity to obtain loans for their businesses and their personal needs."

Source