Appalachian Regional Commission ARC

Persistent poverty in Appalachia, highlighted during the 1960 presidential campaign and in President Kennedy's regional commission of governors, led President Lyndon Johnson to sign the Appalachian Regional Development Act on March 9, 1965, as part of the War on Poverty. The Appalachian Regional Commission is a partnership between the federal government and 13 states: it is led by a federal co-chair appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate and by the governors of the member states, one of whom serves as states' co-chair, and decisions require agreement of both sides.

ARC's region covers over 400 counties in all of West Virginia and parts of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. It makes grants, usually matched by state and local money, for water and sewer systems, broadband, workforce training, health care, tourism, and small business, and it has helped build the Appalachian Development Highway System of more than 3,000 miles of roads. It classifies counties by economic status each year and targets more aid to the most distressed. In recent years it has focused on communities hurt by the decline of coal.

The share of Appalachian counties classified as economically distressed has fallen sharply since the 1960s, and poverty rates in the region have dropped by roughly half, though much of central Appalachia still lags the nation. ARC served as the model for later regional commissions such as the Delta Regional Authority. Several presidents have proposed eliminating or cutting it, and Congress has generally kept funding it with support from both parties in the region. Supporters say it brings tailored, locally driven investment to struggling communities, while critics say regional programs duplicate other federal grants and have not closed the gap.