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Tuesday, March 11, 2003

By David Dishneau, Associated Press Writer

HAGERSTOWN, Md. -- Congressional representatives from the 13 Appalachian Mountain states will fight the Bush administration's proposed 50 percent cut in regional economic development funds, Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., said Monday.

	Anne B. Pope, Appalachian Regional Commission co-chair: "Whatever funds ARC eventually gets, we'll maximize those the best we can." Online map: ARC counties by economic status Source: Appalachian Regional Commission

The plan to slash Appalachian Regional Commission funding to $33 million in fiscal year 2004 from the $66 million that the joint federal-state agency received this year could hurt struggling workers and their families, Bartlett said.

"For some of these communities, this is really survival kind of money," Bartlett said. "There is no way they can bootstrap this. There's just not enough money in the local economy to do it."

Bartlett made the comments after introducing Anne B. Pope, the agency's new federal co-chair, to about 50 elected and community leaders from Maryland's western panhandle. Three Maryland counties -- Allegany, Garrett and Washington-- are covered by the 1965 congressional act that created the ARC to foster social and economic development. ARC includes 410 counties in 13 states -- Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, New York, Maryland, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

By law, half of all ARC funds must go to distressed areas. Greene and Fayette counties in southwestern Pennsylvania are among the 121 most economically distressed counties covered by ARC.

Pope, making her first official visit to an ARC state since being sworn in Feb. 3, said she sympathized with those trying to hang on in a tough economy.

"I commit to everyone in this room that whatever funds ARC eventually gets, we'll maximize those the best we can," she said.

Pope said ARC priorities -- set by her and the 13 state governors who share in guiding the agency -- include completing the Appalachian Development Highway System, which is 80 percent done, and investigating the possibility of attacking drug abuse as a regional problem.

White House officials say the proposed cut reflects efforts to streamline government spending and avoid duplicating financial aid grants.

In Maryland, the ARC has supported water and sewer improvements, industrial park construction, educational initiatives, tourism development and many other projects in the past five years, usually in partnership with state and local governments.

Local officials expressed fears that lower ARC funding could jeopardize economic development efforts.

"If the ARC goes, one leg in our overall strategy will be pulled out," Duane Yoder, president of the Garrett County Community Action Agency, said.

Anna Custer, executive director of the Greater Cumberland Committee, which promotes business interests in far western Maryland and neighboring counties in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, said the region would suffer if ARC funds were cut.

"We feel we've come too far to lose any ground now," she said. "The bottom line is, if ARC doesn't do it, who is?"