Presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg's latest policy proposal appears to be aimed at giving a voting bloc that has heavily supported President Donald Trump a reason to vote for the Democrat.

The South Bend mayor released a wide-ranging, 14-page proposal Tuesday to help rural America, largely by providing resources for job creation, infrastructure improvement and access to education.

Some of the ways he would do this are familiar from his campaign stump speeches, such as fighting climate change to ensure farming and agriculture remain viable, by increasing broadband access, enacting student loan forgiveness and raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Others sound new, such as providing grants for regional development strategies, bolstering antitrust enforcement and supporting satellite hubs for colleges.

Buttigieg proposes to increase government spending, but it's unclear how much or how he would pay for it. His campaign did not immediately return a message.

"In today’s evolving economy," he said in a prepared statement, "we will succeed by helping emerging sectors to take root in rural regions across the country, while bolstering entrepreneurship, creating opportunities for the next generation to stay, and attracting new residents to relocate — especially as urban areas become more unaffordable. It’s time to unleash the talent and creativity across America’s rural areas and small towns."

Trump's presidency has been exposing a divide along the lines of where people live in the United States. In the 2016 midterm election, Democrats made significant gains in suburban areas to retake the House, for instance, while candidates Trump rallied for in more rural areas, including Indiana Sen. Mike Braun, won. Trump's approval among rural voters is 62 percent, according to an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll conducted July 15-18 among 900 registered voters, compared to 47 percent for suburban and 33 percent for urban voters.

Ball State University economist Michael Hicks, one of two experts who reviewed the plan on behalf of IndyStar, said many of the policies simply adapt the mayor's national priorities to rural areas.

"I don’t think this is accidental," Hicks said. "Households in rural places face the same problems and opportunities as those in urban places. The difference comes in the scale of the problem or opportunity."

The plan comes on the heels of Buttigieg's proposal Friday to expand access to health care in rural communities. Buttigieg also released a proposal last week to expand gun control and rein in domestic terrorism. He has previously addressed foreign affairs, racial inequality and worker rights. He intends to continue releasing them as the campaign continues.

Here are some highlights of his latest proposal:

Provide government resources

Grant $200 million for state and local governments’ regional development strategies.

Provide $10,000 grants to qualifying veterans who are starting businesses.

Double the Commerce Department’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which trains rural workers in new business practices, to $3 billion.

Spend $5 billion in an apprenticeship program for trades.

Increase tax deductions for rural companies that hire interns.

Create a visa for immigrants who work in rural underserved areas.

Strengthen antitrust regulations to protect workers and family farmers.

Taking on climate change

Commit $50 billion to support research and development in soil technology, plant and animal health, food safety and other natural resources.

Provide $5 billion annually for investments that would mitigate damage from natural disasters by strengthening areas before they hit.

Pay farmers for conservation.

Increase digital access

Commit $80 billion to expand internet coverage through a variety of public and private partnerships.

Upgrade 911 systems.

Restore net neutrality.

Help teachers

Increase Title I funding to support higher teacher pay.

Spend $50 million in a grant program that encourages residents to become teachers in their communities.

Student-loan forgiveness for qualifying teachers.

Increase a grant program for special-education teachers by $150 million.

Increase access to education

Provide free education to qualifying low- and middle-income students in rural colleges.

Provide $50 million in grants for satellite hubs for colleges.

Invest $25 billion in colleges that primarily serve minority students.

Workers rights

Increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour

Provide rural workers with paid sick and family leave.

Allow more rural workers to organize unions.

Increase access to overtime pay.

Reaction

Hicks, the Ball State economist, said it's a mixed bag. He thinks the focus on regional development initiatives, which he points out already is happening to some degree in Indiana, would help rural areas better understand how to prioritize public investment.

Hicks likes many of Buttigieg's ideas to increase internet and technology access to rural areas, to promote immigration to distressed areas and to protect agriculture workers.

"His idea to extend community-owned networks and tie telecommunications expansion to public investment (schools, libraries and 911 systems) is exactly what this space needs," Hicks said. "We could’ve expanded broadband long ago if we leveraged public and private spending to boost demand in more rural places."

But Hicks thinks restoring net neutrality, which essentially ensures a free market, would conflict with many of Buttigieg's ideas to use resources to promote broadband access. He's also concerned that increasing the minimum wage would lead to job losses through more automation.

"For rural places, that level of compensation will artificially speed automation, limit formal job opportunities for many workers, especially the young and less-well-educated, and grow the size of the shadow economy in rural America," he said.

David Terrell, leader of the Rural Policy Research Institute at Ball State, indicated it's clear Buttigieg has a grasp of the issues in rural areas and largely liked what the mayor proposed after reading through the plan. However, he thinks Buttigieg needs to do more to address aging or nonexistent water and sewer infrastructure.

"The ‘connected infrastructure’ might help address some of our infrastructure challenges, but not far enough," he said.

Call IndyStar reporter Chris Sikich at 317-444-6036. Follow him on Twitter: @ChrisSikich.