WASHINGTON — South Dakota Senator John Thune announced Tuesday he has introduced the Metropolitan Statistical Area Preservation Act.
Thune says it is designed to protect more than 140 areas, including Rapid City, from losing their MSA classification. The bill would prevent the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) increasing the minimum population currently required to be an MSA.
He says losing the classification could harm communities’ access to certain federal funding opportunities and their ability to grow and attract businesses, among other things.
Thune stated; “Increasing the population threshold that is needed to be considered a ‘metropolitan statistical area’ would adversely affect communities in nearly every state, including South Dakota. The Metropolitan Statistical Area Preservation Act would protect communities like Rapid City from losing their current classification as a metropolitan area, address concerns I have heard from constituents in western South Dakota, and protect them from potentially losing access to certain federal funds.”
Thune introduced the bipartisan legislation with Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly. Thune, Kelly, and a number of their colleagues sent a letter to Acting OMB Director, Rob Fairweather, back in March asking him to reject the recommendations to raise the minimum urban area population threshold for MSA designations.
