The Southeast Crescent Regional Commission (SCRC) is one of seven federal regional commissions and authorities authorized by the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

to address instances of major economic distress in certain defined socioeconomic regions.

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 The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) is a United States federal–state partnership that works with the people of Appalachia to create opportunities for self-sustaining economic development and improved quality of life. Congress established A ...

(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. 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.

Legislative history

The SCRC concept was first introduced by university researchers working on rural development issues in 1990 at

Tuskegee University Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was de ...

’s Annual Professional Agricultural Worker’s Conference for 1862 and 1890

Land-Grant Universities A land-grant university (also called land-grant college or land-grant institution) is an institution of higher education in the United States designated by a state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890. Signed by Abraha ...

. In 1994, the Southern Rural Development Commission Act was introduced in the

United States House Committee on Agriculture The U.S. House Committee on Agriculture, or Agriculture Committee is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. The House Committee on Agriculture has general jurisdiction over federal agriculture policy and oversight of s ...

, 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.

Governance

In August 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden nominated Jennifer Clyburn Reed as Federal Co-Chair of the Southeast Crescent Regional Commission. 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 The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

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 The Delta Regional Authority (DRA) is a Federal-State partnership whose mission it is to improve the quality of life for the residents of the Mississippi Delta. The Delta Regional Authority serves 252 counties and parishes in parts of eight state ...

(DRA).

References

{{Authority control United States federal boards, commissions, and committees Economic development organizations in the United States Rural community development Rural development in the United States