The University of North Carolina

                                       

2005 Federal Priority

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                   March 2005

 

SouthEast Crescent Authority

 

Background

 

The purpose of the SouthEast Crescent Authority (SECA) is to promote economic growth and alleviate poverty and unemployment in distressed areas of the southeastern United States. East Carolina University’s Regional Development Institute (RDI), in collaboration with North Carolina State University, North Carolina A & T University, UNC-Wilmington and the regional development organizations (RDO) from the seven states in the proposed SECA region have been working together to obtain federal authorization and funding for its creation.

 

Congressman Mike McIntyre, re-introduced the SECA legislation (H.R. 20) on the opening day of the 109th Congress.  The bill calls for the formation of a federal initiative titled the SouthEast Crescent Authority and authorizes $200 million over five years, beginning in 2006, for economic development and job-creating activities in the most distressed areas of eastern North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi. 

 

In 2003, the Southern Governors Association (SGA) unanimously endorsed the creation of SECA and urged Congress to authorize creation of the Authority. The subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, unanimously passed HR 141, a predecessor bill to H.R. 20. The legislation authorizing SECA was not acted upon by the full Committee before the end of the 108th Congress.

 

The SECA region includes the coastal and central portions of the seven southeastern states from Virginia to Mississippi. It has a total population of 40.26 million and is America’s last large area of economic distress not being addressed by a special federal funding program.

 

SECA would be patterned after the highly successful Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), which has assisted in eliminating large pockets of poverty in Appalachia. Each of the seven states’ governors or his/her appointee shall serve on the SECA board of directors, along with a federal co-chair appointed by the President of the United States. The governors shall elect one of the seven governors to serve as the other co-chair.


Projects that are submitted for funding approval must address one or more of the following broad criterion for community betterment:

 

·         Infrastructure

·         Education & Training

·         Entrepreneurship

·         Leadership Development

 

In order to direct the SECA resources toward communities in greatest need, grants will be made according to the degree of SECA-designated distress. In general, the five funding priorities for SECA shall be, in descending order:

 

1.      Distressed rural counties (as defined by SECA)

2.   Distressed urban counties (as defined by SECA)

3.   Pockets of distress in non-distressed rural communities

4.   Pockets of distress in non-distressed urban communities

5.      Selected projects that involve multiple communities or communities of

      varying distress.

 

SECA will emphasize the capability to enjoin a local, state, and federal partnership to carry the most disadvantaged portion of each state to a point that is commensurate with the balance of their state. It will work in a manner that will seek to address localized problems as well as issues that transcend state boundaries. Emphasis will be placed on addressing problems in the worst areas of SECA, rather than simply spreading program funding over the geographic whole.

 

 “SouthEast Crescent Authority: A Proposal for Economic Growth in the Southeastern United States,” can be found in its entirety at http://www.ecu.edu/rds/.

 

Action Requested:  The North Carolina Congressional delegation is requested to support legislation authorizing creation of the SouthEast Crescent Authority (H.R. 20).

 

Additionally, the North Carolina Congressional delegation is requested to support one-time funding of $1.5 million in FY06. These funds will be used to develop options for the SouthEast Crescent Authority governing board relating to policy, governance, planning, project eligibility, staffing, organizational structure, and evaluation, thereby reducing the lag time between creation of the SECA and its ability to begin funding projects in the economically distressed areas of the Southeastern United States. The options developed will be based on the best practices of all other federally funded regional commissions and authorities.

 

Department of Agriculture FY06 Appropriations Bill

 

Item:                 East Carolina University/SouthEast Crescent Authority Planning Grant

Request:           $1,500,000

Account:           Rural Development