A year after the House chose to continue offering financial incentives to Kansans moving to rural areas that are struggling with workforce, state senators followed suit, with their own added flare. The proposal would extend the Rural Opportunity Zone program by five years and expand eligibility to any county with a population less than 40,000. The program provides these designated counties the opportunity to offer income tax credits and student loan repayments to reverse population decline. Supporters said the bill provides for the program to continue while allowing the Legislature to focus on any needed tweaks. “Our rural areas continue to depopulate, and we have nothing that I see currently on the books that’s going to stop that,” said Sen. Tom Holland, D-Baldwin City. “As long as my rural peers in the Legislature continue to support this, particularly for those counties that continue to shed population, I will trust them on this because make no mistake, your rural brothers and sisters are trusting you when you do the big economic development deals.”
Source: Kansas Reflector
