,,ii  #aaith ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #cife  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,march #c1     
#bjbf,mr4 ,barrasso 7for himself1 ,mr4  
,kelly1 ,ms4 ,alsobrooks1 ,mr4 ,bennet1 
,ms4 ,cortez ,masto1 ,mr4 ,daines1 ,mr4 
,fetterman1 ,mr4 ,hawley1 ,ms4          
,klobuchar1 ,ms4 ,lummis1 ,mr4 ,moran1  
,mr4 ,ossoff1 ,mr4 ,schatz1 and ,ms4    
,smith7 introduced the following bill2  
which was read twice and referred to the
 ,committee on ,environment and ,public 
,works  ,a ,,bill  ,to require the      
establishment and use of short form     
applications for rural communities      
applying for economic development grant 
programs1 and for other purposes4  #a4  
,short title ,this ,act may be cited as 
the ,,eda ,short ,form ,application     
,act4  #b4 ,short form applications for 
rural communities in economic           
development programs  7a7 ,definitions  
,in this section3 7#a7 ,assistant       
,secretary ,the term ,assistant         
,secretary means the ,assistant         

,secretary of ,commerce for ,economic   
,development4  7#b7 ,rural community    
,the term rural community means an      
incorporated municipality1 ,tribal area1
 or territory-- 7,a7 with a population  
of not more than #aj1jjj individuals1 as
 determined by the ,bureau of the       
,census in the most recent decennial    
census2 or  7,b7 that1 as determined by 
the ,assistant ,secretary1 is not       
located in a metropolitan statistical   
area1 as designated by the ,director of 
the ,office of ,management and ,budget4 
7b7 ,short form applications            
,notwithstanding any other provision of 
law1 the ,assistant ,secretary shall    
establish a short form application for  
rural communities that may be used by   
applicants in rural communities for any 
grant program administered by the       
,economic ,development ,administration4 
7c7 ,rural stakeholder input ,in        
establishing a short form application   
under subsection 7b71 the ,assistant    
,secretary shall solicit input from a   

representative group of stakeholders in 
rural communities on ways to improve the
 application process for grants from the
 ,economic ,development ,administration1
 including-- 7#a7 the length of the     
applications2  7#b7 the information and 
documentation required or requested to  
be submitted as part of the             
applications2  7#c7 the possibility of  
standardizing base materials1 such as   
budget templates1 forms1 and required   
attachments1 across grant programs      
administered by the ,economic           
,development ,administration2  7#d7 the 
possibility of reducing repetitive      
sections of the applications that ask   
for information already provided to the 
,federal ,government1 such as           
information provided through ,,sam4gov1 
the ,bureau of the ,census1 or a        
comprehensive economic development      
strategy 7as defined in section #c of   
the ,public ,works and ,economic        
,development ,act of #aife 7#db         
,u4,s4,c4 #cabb772  7#e7 the degree of  

applicability to rural communities of   
questions in the applications and       
information and documentation described 
in paragraph 7#b72 and  7#f7 any other  
considerations the ,assistant ,secretary
 determines to be necessary for the     
establishment of the short form         
application4  7d7  ,transparency  ,in   
carrying out this section1 the          
,assistant ,secretary shall make        
publicly available--  7#a7 sample       
successful applications1 with personal  
and sensitive information redacted2     
7#b7 criteria decision guides that      
explain how applications are reviewed   
and rated2 and  7#c7 standardized       
guidance for rural communities to use in
 applying for grants from the ,economic 
,development ,administration4