As Minnesota Governor and Vice-Presidential nominee Tim Walz recently said, small towns revolve around their schools and hospitals.  These towns also rely on well-maintained roads for local jobs and to get students to school safely. So let’s talk hospitals, roads, and schools in rural Minnesota and America.

Rural hospitals and clinics are struggling to stay open. But Democrats are investing heavily to keep rural hospitals open, to retain a rural workforce of highly-trained medical specialists, and to support mental health services in rural communities. Democrats know that the best way to protect rural families is to make sure all Americans have a short ride to a local hospital during an emergency.

Let’s talk infrastructure and roads. Democrats voted unanimously for President Biden’s 2021 Infrastructure Bill. The historic bill provided $1.2 trillion dollars in transportation and infrastructure. Much of the money went to provide much needed updates to rural America. This includes over $2 billion to repair ailing rural roads.

Amazingly, 206 Republicans opposed this bill that provided billions to rural communities. (Only 13 Republicans voted for the bill, so you might ask yourself which party really supports rural communities.)

Want to talk schools? Nationwide, numerous Republican-dominated states have slashed funding so much that many schools in Midwestern states like Kansas and Missouri can’t afford to stay open five days a week. In fact, several dozen states now have entire school districts that close on Fridays.

Imagine: Republicans said they would make America Great Again, but they can’t even keep schools open five days a week! And now parents are forced to pay for a day of child care because school is closed on Fridays.

Luckily, here in Minnesota, the Democrats have protected rural schools. Democrats in Minnesota passed the free lunch bill, providing free school lunch to all children in the state. After all, it’s hard to learn when you’re hungry. And it’s hard to focus at work when you are worried your kid is hungry. Democrats took these worries off your list.

Need more reasons to vote Democrat? Minnesota Democrats have provided funding to improve broadband, local government aid, health care, and child care to rural Minnesota at a pace far exceeding Republicans.

So if you believe rural communities deserve the best schools, hospitals, roads, and digital highways, be a Democratic voter this fall.