Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 278 To require the Secretary of Agriculture to provide assistance for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers and socially disadvantaged groups, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 8, 2021 Mr. WARNOCK (for himself, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. LUJA´N, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. LEAHY, and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To require the Secretary of Agriculture to provide assistance for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers and so- cially disadvantaged groups, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emergency Relief for 4 Farmers of Color Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds that— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S278.IS S278 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 278 IS (1) various factors have contributed to the loss 1 of Black farmers, Indigenous farmers, and farmers 2 of color in the United States, including— 3 (A) mass and systemic loss of farmland 4 owned and operated by minority farmers; 5 (B) institutional civil rights violations by 6 the Federal Government; 7 (C) difficulties accessing debt and credit 8 capital; and 9 (D) other legal challenges that make it dif- 10 ficult for minority farmers and farmworkers to 11 participate in the United States farm economy; 12 (2) a 2019 Government Accountability Office 13 report found that socially disadvantaged farmers and 14 ranchers have more difficulty getting loans and cred- 15 it from the Department of Agriculture, which can 16 help beginning farmers break into the business and 17 help existing farmers continue running their oper- 18 ations; 19 (3) the finding described in paragraph (2) high- 20 lights the systemic racism that has hindered farmers 21 of color for generations and continues as of the date 22 of enactment of this Act; 23 (4) beginning in 1830, Native American re- 24 moval was a federally sanctioned practice, the im- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S278.IS S278 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 278 IS pact of which still detrimentally impacts Native 1 American farmers today, including— 2 (A) the moving of tens of thousands of 3 original inhabitants from traditional land; 4 (B) the disruption of land ownership and 5 tenure; and 6 (C) the reorientation of traditional farm 7 production techniques; 8 (5) according to the Census of Agriculture— 9 (A) approximately 80 percent of land was 10 lost by Black farmers from 1910 to 2007; 11 (B) in 1910, 14 percent of United States 12 farmers were Black; and 13 (C) in 2012, less than 2 percent of United 14 States farmers were Black; 15 (6) heirs’ property refers to land that is infor- 16 mally passed down from generation to generation 17 without a legally designated owner; 18 (7) due to lack of access to the legal system 19 during Reconstruction and distrust of the legal sys- 20 tem during the Jim Crow era, many Black families 21 have relied on heirs’ property to keep land in their 22 families, which has resulted in title issues now hin- 23 dering many Black families from obtaining credit; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S278.IS S278 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 278 IS (8) Hispanic farmers were unlawfully discrimi- 1 nated against by the Department of Agriculture with 2 respect to credit and loan transaction and farm dis- 3 aster benefits; 4 (9) there are various laws, regulations, and 5 questionable practices that have led to and are asso- 6 ciated with land owned by Black farmers, Indige- 7 nous farmers, and farmers of color being acquired 8 by developers, contrary to the will of the farmers 9 and land workers; 10 (10) numerous reports over 60 years have 11 shown a consistent pattern of discrimination at the 12 Department of Agriculture against Black farmers, 13 Indigenous farmers, and farmers of color; 14 (11) in 1965, the United States Commission on 15 Civil Rights found evidence of discrimination in pro- 16 gram delivery and the treatment of employees of 17 color at the Department of Agriculture; 18 (12) in the 1970s, the Department of Agri- 19 culture deliberately forced Black farmers, Indigenous 20 farmers, and farmers of color off their land through 21 corrupt loan and financing practices; 22 (13) a 1982 report of the United States Com- 23 mission on Civil Rights concluded that racial dis- 24 crimination was continuing within the Department 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S278.IS S278 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 278 IS of Agriculture, and, despite lawsuits and court or- 1 ders, the discrimination continued in carrying out 2 the farm loan programs in the headquarters and the 3 network of field offices of the Department of Agri- 4 culture; and 5 (14) a 2008 Government Accountability Office 6 report stated there were ‘‘significant deficiencies’’ in 7 addressing civil rights issues by the Department of 8 Agriculture and recommended new measures to ad- 9 dress the backlog of civil rights issues at the Depart- 10 ment of Agriculture. 11 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 12 In this Act: 13 (1) FARM LOAN.—The term ‘‘farm loan’’ means 14 a loan administered by the Farm Service Agency 15 under subtitle A, B, or C of the Consolidated Farm 16 and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1922 et seq.). 17 (2) QUALIFIED NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.— 18 The term ‘‘qualified nonprofit organization’’ means 19 an organization— 20 (A) that is a nonprofit; 21 (B) that has not less than 3 years of expe- 22 rience providing meaningful agricultural, busi- 23 ness assistance, legal assistance, or advocacy 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S278.IS S278 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 278 IS services to socially disadvantaged farmers or 1 ranchers; and 2 (C) at least 50 percent of the members of 3 the board of directors of which are members of 4 a socially disadvantaged group. 5 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 6 the Secretary of Agriculture. 7 (4) SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED FARMER OR 8 RANCHER.—The term ‘‘socially disadvantaged farm- 9 er or rancher’’ has the meaning given the term in 10 section 2501(a) of the Food, Agriculture, Conserva- 11 tion, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 2279(a)). 12 (5) SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED GROUP.—The 13 term ‘‘socially disadvantaged group’’ has the mean- 14 ing given the term in section 2501(a) of the Food, 15 Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 16 U.S.C. 2279(a)). 17 SEC. 4. DEBT FORGIVENESS ON FARM SERVICE AGENCY 18 LOANS. 19 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to ad- 20 dress the historical discrimination against socially dis- 21 advantaged farmers and ranchers and address issues re- 22 lating to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19)— 23 (1) in farm loan programs; and 24 (2) across the Department of Agriculture. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S278.IS S278 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 278 IS (b) DEBT FORGIVENESS.— 1 (1) DIRECT LOANS.—The Secretary shall for- 2 give the obligation of each socially disadvantaged 3 farmer or rancher who is a borrower of a farm loan 4 made by the Secretary to repay the principal and in- 5 terest outstanding as of the date of enactment of 6 this Act on the farm loan. 7 (2) GUARANTEED LOANS.—The Secretary shall 8 pay to each lender of farm loans guaranteed by the 9 Secretary an amount equal to the principal and in- 10 terest outstanding as of the date of enactment of 11 this Act on all farm loans held by the lender, the 12 borrowers of which are socially disadvantaged farm- 13 ers and ranchers, such that the borrowers shall be 14 relieved of the obligation to repay the principal and 15 interest due on those guaranteed farm loans. 16 (3) APPLICATIONS.— 17 (A) CIRCUMSTANCES WHEN NOT RE- 18 QUIRED.—The Secretary shall not require a 19 borrower of a farm loan for which debt forgive- 20 ness may be provided under paragraph (1) or 21 (2) who has self-identified as a socially dis- 22 advantaged farmer or rancher under a farm 23 loan existing as of the date of enactment of this 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S278.IS S278 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 278 IS Act to submit an application for debt forgive- 1 ness under paragraph (1) or (2). 2 (B) OPPORTUNITY TO SUBMIT.—The Sec- 3 retary shall provide to each socially disadvan- 4 taged farmer or rancher who is a borrower of 5 a farm loan for which debt forgiveness may be 6 provided under paragraph (1) or (2) and who 7 has not self-identified as a socially disadvan- 8 taged farmer or rancher under a farm loan ex- 9 isting as of the date of enactment of this Act 10 an opportunity to submit to the Secretary an 11 application for debt forgiveness under para- 12 graph (1) or (2). 13 (4) PROHIBITION ON FUTURE ELIGIBILITY RE- 14 STRICTION.—The Secretary shall not restrict the eli- 15 gibility of a borrower for a future farm loan based 16 on the receipt of loan forgiveness under this section. 17 (c) FUNDING.—There is appropriated to the Sec- 18 retary, out of amounts in the Treasury not otherwise ap- 19 propriated, to carry out this section $4,000,000,000 for 20 the period of fiscal years 2021 through 2025. 21 SEC. 5. ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE FOR SOCIALLY DIS- 22 ADVANTAGED FARMERS AND RANCHERS AND 23 SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED GROUPS. 24 (a) EQUITY COMMISSION.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S278.IS S278 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 278 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 1 an equity commission composed of— 2 (A) officers of the Department of Agri- 3 culture; 4 (B) individuals with an interest in the ac- 5 tivities of the Department of Agriculture; 6 (C) socially disadvantaged farmers or 7 ranchers with not less than 10 years of experi- 8 ence in farming or ranching; 9 (D) individuals with expertise in civil 10 rights; and 11 (E) employees or board members of quali- 12 fied nonprofit organizations. 13 (2) DUTIES.—The equity commission estab- 14 lished under paragraph (1) shall— 15 (A) examine past discrimination by the De- 16 partment of Agriculture; 17 (B) examine and evaluate discrimination 18 occurring in programs administered by the De- 19 partment of Agriculture; and 20 (C) provide recommendations to the Sec- 21 retary to address and mitigate future discrimi- 22 nation by the Department of Agriculture, in- 23 cluding— 24 (i) budgetary recommendations; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S278.IS S278 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 278 IS (ii) recommendations for improving 1 the structure of Farm Service Agency 2 county committees to better serve socially 3 disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. 4 (b) NATIONAL CENTER FOR MINORITY FARMER AG- 5 RICULTURAL LAW RESEARCH AND INFORMATION.— 6 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall 7 make a competitive grant to a school of law, or a 8 legal research entity, in the United States to estab- 9 lish the National Center for Minority Farmer Agri- 10 cultural Law Research and Information (referred to 11 in this subsection as the ‘‘Center’’). 12 (2) ACTIVITIES.—The Center shall— 13 (A) conduct international, Federal, State, 14 and local legal research on the legal issues of 15 minority farmers and farmworkers relating to 16 farmland, credit, land ownership, and related 17 food and agricultural issues; 18 (B) provide information, community legal 19 education, policy research, and guidance on 20 legal issues relating to minority farmers and 21 farmworkers to— 22 (i) practicing attorneys, including at- 23 torneys providing pro bono assistance, rep- 24 resenting minority farmers and farm- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S278.IS S278 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 278 IS workers, including advice and brief serv- 1 ices; 2 (ii) minority farmers and individuals 3 assisting minority farmers on legal issues; 4 (iii) food, agriculture, farmworker, 5 and farm organizations; 6 (iv) local, State, and Federal agencies; 7 (v) members of Congress; and 8 (vi) other persons who are assisting 9 minority farmers and farmworkers in ad- 10 dressing the legal issues described in sub- 11 paragraph (A); and 12 (C) coordinate a national network of attor- 13 neys— 14 (i) providing legal assistance to minor- 15 ity farmers and farmworkers; or 16 (ii) working on issues relevant to mi- 17 nority farmers and farmworkers. 18 (3) AVAILABILITY.— 19 (A) CENTER.—The Center shall make 20 available to the National Agricultural Library 21 the research, community legal education, policy 22 research, guidance, advice, and information of 23 the Center. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S278.IS S278 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 278 IS (B) NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL LIBRARY.— 1 The National Agricultural Library shall make 2 available to the public the research, community 3 legal education, policy research, guidance, ad- 4 vice, and information provided by the Center 5 under subparagraph (A). 6 (4) COLLABORATION.—The Center shall col- 7 laborate with— 8 (A) the National Agricultural Library; and 9 (B) the National Center for Agricultural 10 Law Research and Information. 11 (c) GRANTS AND LOANS TO RESOLVE OWNERSHIP 12 AND SUCCESSION ON FARMLAND.—The Secretary shall 13 make— 14 (1) grants to resolve property issues relating to 15 ownership and succession on farmland; and 16 (2) loans under section 310I of the Consoli- 17 dated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 18 1936c). 19 (d) COOPERATIVES SERVING SOCIALLY DISADVAN- 20 TAGED GROUPS.—The Secretary shall provide financial 21 assistance to cooperative development centers, individual 22 cooperatives, or groups of cooperatives— 23 (1) that serve socially disadvantaged groups; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S278.IS S278 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 278 IS (2) a majority of the boards of directors or 1 other governing boards of which are composed of in- 2 dividuals who [Text truncated for display. 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