Southeast Crescent Regional Commission

The Southeast Crescent Regional Commission (SCRC) is one of seven federal regional commissions and authorities authorized by the United States Congress to address instances of major economic distress in certain defined socioeconomic regions.

Southeast Crescent Regional Commission
Seal of the Southeast Crescent Regional Commission
Agency overview
Formed2008
JurisdictionFederal government of the United States
Agency executive
Websitewww.scrc.gov

Origins

The SCRC was created by the 2008 U.S. Farm Bill, which also created the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC) and the Southwest Border Regional Commission. All three commissions share common authorizing language modeled after the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). The SCRC received regular appropriations of $250,000 annually from FY2010 through FY2020 but did not form during that time due to the absence of an appointed federal co-chair.[1]

On December 8, 2021, the U.S. Senate confirmed the SCRC’s first federal co-chairperson, Jennifer Clyburn Reed, thereby allowing the SCRC to convene and begin other activities.[1]

Legislative history

The SCRC concept was first introduced by university researchers working on rural development issues in 1990 at Tuskegee University’s Annual Professional Agricultural Worker’s Conference for 1862 and 1890 Land-Grant Universities.[1]

In 1994, the Southern Rural Development Commission Act was introduced in the United States House Committee on Agriculture, which would provide the statutory basis for a “Southern Black Belt Commission.” While the concept was not reintroduced in Congress until the 2000s, various nongovernmental initiatives sustained discussion and interest in the concept in the intervening period. Supportive legislation was reintroduced in 2002, which touched off other accompanying legislative efforts until the SCRC was authorized in 2008.[1][2]

Governance

In August 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden nominated Jennifer Clyburn Reed as Federal Co-Chair of the Southeast Crescent Regional Commission.[3] The U.S. Senate confirmed her appointment on December 9, 2021. In this role, Reed will work on economic and poverty issues in the Southeastern United States.[4]

Service area

The SCRC was created to address economic distress in areas of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida not served by the ARC or the Delta Regional Authority (DRA).[1]

References
  1. Lawhorn, Julie M. (December 22, 2021). "Federal Regional Commissions and Authorities: Structural Features and Function". Congressional Research Service. Retrieved 2022-01-11.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. Jackson, Stefanie (2021-02-11). "Southeast Crescent Regional Commission Hopes 2021 Will Be Its Year". Eastern Shore Post. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  3. "President Biden nominates Clyburn's daughter to federal post". The State. August 2, 2021. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
  4. Nerozzi, Timothy (2021-12-09). "Senate approves Rep. Clyburn's daughter to head federal commission". Fox News. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
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