Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a Senate Budget Committee member, announced today the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has decided not to increase the population threshold for communities to be classified as Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) from 50,000 to 100,000 as the agency had previously proposed. Senator Cramer worked with his colleagues to oppose this change and the loss of access to federal programs it could have caused North Dakota communities like Bismarck, Minot, or Grand Forks.
“Had the population standards for being labeled a Metropolitan Statistical Area been raised, many small and medium-sized communities in North Dakota and across the country would have been unable to access important federal programs that help with health care, housing, economic development, and more,” said Senator Cramer. “I appreciate OMB’s Acting Director Shalanda Young for being attentive as my colleagues and I voiced our concerns about this issue, and I am grateful she made the right call.”
Acting Director Young, whom Senator Cramer voted to confirm as Deputy Director of OMB earlier this year, informed the senator by phone of this decision earlier today. When the idea of raising the MSA population level to 100,000 was proposed, Senator Cramer worked with his colleagues to oppose this change, writing several letters with Senators John Thune (R-SD), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), John Boozman (R-AR), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) detailing the harm it could cause local communities. Learn more here.