Establishes a uniform definition of ‘rural area’ for all rural development programs administered by the Department of Agriculture.
Establish a uniform definition of rural area for all rural development programs administered by the Department of Agriculture.
Occurrences
To establish a uniform definition of “rural area” for all rural development programs administered by the Department of Agriculture.
Evidence
Official title: “To establish a uniform definition of ‘rural area’ for all rural development programs administered by the Department of Agriculture.” All actions show introduction in House on 07/11/2024 and referral to the House Agriculture and Financial Services Committees; later referral to the Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development on 09/03/2024. Tracker status: Introduced.
The bill text states its purpose is “To establish a uniform definition of ‘rural area’ for all rural development programs administered by the Department of Agriculture.”
Congress.gov member page shows Raul Ruiz as serving in the House for California’s 25th District and lists his current 119th Congress legislative activity; no indication of enactment for H.R. 9019 appears on the member page excerpt reviewed.
CRS explains USDA Rural Development uses multiple statutory rural definitions across programs and that Congress has established several distinct definitions in statute rather than a single uniform one.
Congress.gov lists H.R. 9019 as introduced by Rep. Ruiz on 2024-07-11, referred to the House Agriculture and Financial Services Committees, and later referred on 2024-09-03 to the Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development; the tracker still shows the bill as Introduced.
Congress.gov identifies Raul Ruiz as House California District 25 in the 118th-119th Congresses and shows his active 119th Congress member activity; the page excerpt reviewed does not show any later-term resolution for the rural-area definition bill.
Assessments
Ruiz materially pursued this promise by introducing H.R. 9019 in the 118th Congress with the exact stated purpose of creating a uniform USDA rural-area definition. But the bill only reached committee referral and remained at Introduced status, and the provided evidence shows no later enactment or agency implementation while he remained in office. Under the rubric, a serious legislative attempt without delivery counts as never, with effort credit.
The evidence shows Ruiz formally introduced H.R. 9019 in July 2024 to establish a uniform USDA rural-area definition, directly matching the promise. But the bill's recorded status remained 'Introduced' with committee referrals only, and there is no evidence of enactment, implementation, or later-term delivery. Because he made a serious legislative attempt but did not achieve the promised policy outcome, this is best scored as not delivered with effort credit.