We have received a very time sensitive request from our friends at National Cooperative Business Alliance (NCBA CLUSA) regarding the preservation of the Rural Cooperative Development Grant (RCDG) funding.
NCBA has created this RCDG Cooperative Advocacy Toolkit to make taking action easy.
We need to ask Congresspeople to ask for the RCDG to be funded in the upcoming federal budget. It takes less than 10 minutes to complete this action.The deadline is this Friday, March 16. Please act today!
We need you to immediately contact *your* congressperson and ask them to contact the U.S. House Appropriations Committee.
- Step 1: If you’re not sure who your representative is, you can find out by clicking on this link and entering your zip code: https://www.house.gov /representatives/find-your-representative
- Step 2: The link above will help you identify your representative, and give you a link to their homepage. Go to your Representative’s homepage and find an email link or contact form. (You may need to enter your zip to verify that you are a constituent.) If it is a form, you may also have to choose an issue area. You can choose “Appropriations”.
- Step 3: Prepare your email. Use the subject “Please submit a request to fund the Rural Cooperative Development Grant.” Below is text that you can copy and paste into your email.
It is important to let them know that you are a constituent, and that it is urgent that they use the link provided this week.
Below is text for your email. Please adjust, copy and paste. Thank you for taking action!
Dear Rep. [XX],
This is the last week to submit requests for Appropriations to the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies. I urge you to submit a request to fully fund the Rural Cooperative Development Grant (RCDG).
I have seen first-hand the difference we can make when we help people form a cooperative business that meets their needs and operates with their best interest at heart. Few resources are available specifically for cooperative development. The Rural Cooperative Development Grant is one, and helps us work with low-income people for free or reduced fees.
The National Cooperative Business Association-CLUSA International (NCBA CLUSA) is requesting that at least $26,850,000 be appropriated for the Rural Cooperative Development Grant (RCDG) program of the Rural Business – Cooperative Service account in the FY 2019 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. There is more information on NCBA’s website, here: http://ncba.coop/latest-initiatives/2118-co-ops-could-plug-into-administration-s-infrastructure-plan-but-rcdc-funding-must-be-preserved.
In order to make this request to fully fund the RCDG, you need to fill out a Member Appropriations Submission here:
https://Appropriationssubmissions.house.gov and submit a signed letter to the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies. If you have any questions or require further information, please contact the Subcommittee staff at (202) 225-2638. Technical questions related specifically to the operation of the system should be directed to the Committee’s IT office at (202) 225-2718.