If you compare a map of the counties stretching from southern New York to North Mississippi that the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) provides economic development funds to with a map of the counties that voted for Donald Trump last fall, you will find a near exact correlation.
Ten of the 13 Appalachian states went for Trump.
It was this region — rural Appalachia — and these people — the white, working poor — that served as the base that carried Trump to the presidency.
This voting bloc helped turn large states like Ohio and Pennsylvania red and secure Trump’s victory.
And, in turn, Trump used his strong support from this region during his campaign to prove his authenticity, distance himself from his elite background and show that the Rust Belt workers and coal miners who lost their jobs because of corporate outsourcing and environmental regulations had faith that he could bring jobs back to the U.S.
Yet, as the Trump administration has taken its place in the White House and begun announcing policy proposals, it has proved how little it cares for those who had faith in it.
In his proposed budget, Trump seeks to completely cut out 19 organizations, one of which is the Appalachian Regional Commission.
The ARC was created in 1965 to address the poverty spread throughout the Appalachian region. While many of the same problems and some relatively new ones still plague the region, the organization has modernized the region by bringing running water, electricity and improved infrastructure.
Since 1960, the number of high-poverty counties in Appalachia has dropped from 295 to 84.
Today, a federal co-chair works with the governors of the 13 Appalachian states to allocate funds to economic development projects, most of which are as basic as improving the highway system to combat isolation or building new post-secondary schools to diversify local economies and provide jobs in place of the disappearing coal industry.
These types of projects have led to the creation or securing of around 23,000 jobs in Appalachia just in the past year.
The commission’s budget of $146 million is minuscule in comparison to most other parts of our multi-trillion dollar national budget.
Defunding this program that makes up such a small fraction of the nation’s budget would have disastrous implications.
Cutting the ARC would put a halt on hundreds of projects in the 13 Appalachian states that, unlike “handout” welfare programs, would be pointed investments in the future of the region.
Schools, hospitals and transportation systems would have to find other sources for funding or just collapse.
Some of this fallout would directly affect the Mississippi counties to the north and east of Lafayette County.
Luckily, the Senate still must approve the budget before its cuts would take effect. The ARC has bipartisan support from many Appalachian senators.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell insisted that the ARC will remain, and if Republican senators outside of the region can see the commission’s value, it should remain.
Yet, even if the budget does not make it through as is, it still says something about President Trump.
For a politician who repeatedly claimed to be on the side of Appalachia, Trump has shown he does not understand nor care about those who put such strong faith in him.
Liam Nieman is a Southern studies and economics major from Mount Gretna, Pennsylvania.
