Rural areas across the country faced challenging development problems — which were key drivers in the past two presidential election cycles — long before the COVID-19 pandemic exposed them further.

As cases mounted and schools and businesses closed, it became more obvious that many rural areas lacked the digital infrastructure that is the foundation of modern economies. The problems were particularly acute in terms of health care, education and sustainable jobs, all of which came to rely more heavily on high-speed broadband access that has yet to reach many rural areas.

Rep. Matt Cartwright, the Moosic Democrat who is chairman of a House appropriations subcommittee dealing with commerce and technology, and 20-term Republican Rep. Hal Rogers of rural Kentucky, have introduced the Transforming Hiring in Rural Industries and Vital Economies Act, THRIVE.

The bill would direct more federal funds to universal broadband access, and would steer more federal money to improve rural health care access, strengthen rural schools and provide assistance to rural small businesses.

It also would re-establish, by law, the White House Rural Council, which President Barack Obama created in 2012 to coordinate an array of rural programs operated under different federal agencies, but which President Donald Trump disbanded in 2017.

Cartwright has asked Agriculture Secretary to reinstate the council by executive action pending the legislation. He should comply.

Before it was killed, the council oversaw the expansion of rural broadband, expansion of online services for rural schools, telemedicine expansion and high-speed broadband deployment, using a $2 billion grant from the Federal Communications Commission.

Congress should approve the bipartisan effort to end the technological and related economic disparities that face rural communities nationwide.

— The Citizens’ Voice, Wilkes-Barre/TNS