Senate President Ben Albritton calls it the “fight for a rural renaissance in Florida.”

And Wednesday, the Senate released a 129-page bill that would take steps to try to bolster health care, education, roads and economic development in 31 counties that, in many cases, have not experienced the same booming growth as other parts of Florida.

Albritton, a Wauchula Republican and citrus grower, has long made clear that rural issues would be a focus of his time leading the Senate. He said in a memo to senators Wednesday that the proposals in the bill “provide opportunities for rural communities to grow as they see fit, based on decisions made by local families and businesses who call rural Florida home.”

“These are critical enhancements and investments to support 31 of our 67 counties and hundreds of rural communities across Florida,” the memo said. “We have seen tremendous economic growth in urban areas of Florida, it’s rural Florida’s turn.”

The bill (SB 110) is filled for the legislative session that will start March 4 and is sponsored by Sen. Corey Simon, a Tallahassee Republican who represents a sprawling, mostly rural North Florida district.

A Senate overview said the bill includes:

— Seeking to help financially struggling rural hospitals and attract doctors and other health-care providers to rural areas. That includes providing an additional $25 million for mobile health-care units and telehealth kiosks; providing $25 million in grants to help physicians and advanced registered nurse practitioners start practices in rural areas; and increasing payments to rural hospitals that provide care to Medicaid beneficiaries.

— Providing incentives for teachers to work in rural areas and helping rural school districts with facility projects. The bill would create a program that would offer $15,000 to rural teachers in student-loan repayment assistance. It also would help free up money for school facility projects by making changes to an already-existing program that provides school-construction funding.

— Boosting state spending on transportation projects in rural areas, including calling for $50 million a year for arterial road projects — what Albritton’s memo describes as “farm to market” roads. The bill also would make other changes to provide money for rural road projects, such as boosting funding for a program that helps pay for resurfacing and rebuilding county roads.

— Making changes in a formula to provide more money for what are known as “fiscally constrained counties.” The bill calls for providing at least $50 million a year, with counties required to use 50 percent of the money for public safety, 30 percent for infrastructure and 20 percent for other needs.

— Creating an Office of Rural Prosperity at the Department of Commerce to provide technical assistance to rural communities. Also, the bill would provide $1 million block grants for each of eight counties — Gadsden, Hardee, Talyor, Jackson, Calhoun, Liberty, Madison and Lafayette — that have had declining populations. The counties would have to develop plans to use the money to try to boost their populations.

— The bill includes $197.4 million in funding for programs and also would redirect other money in the state budget.

In a prepared statement Wednesday, Simon described Florida as the “envy of the nation, and we won’t leave our rural communities behind.”

“We are combining enhancements to the traditional infrastructure for schools and hospitals with innovations that expand and strengthen access,” he said. “We know commerce and capital are attracted to strong transportation infrastructure and robust public services, which will provide the chance for rural communities to prosper and grow as they see fit.”