MORE USDA Grants Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 647 To improve the process for awarding grants under certain programs of the Department of Agriculture to certain counties in which the majority of land is owned or managed by the Federal Government and to other units of local government and Tribal governments in those counties, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 9, 2021 Ms. CORTEZ MASTO (for herself, Mr. RISCH, Mr. CRAPO, and Mr. DAINES) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To improve the process for awarding grants under certain programs of the Department of Agriculture to certain counties in which the majority of land is owned or man- aged by the Federal Government and to other units of local government and Tribal governments in those counties, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S647.IS S647 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 647 IS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘More Opportunities 2 for Rural Economies from USDA Grants Act’’ or the 3 ‘‘MORE USDA Grants Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 5 In this Act: 6 (1) HIGH-DENSITY PUBLIC LAND COUNTY.— 7 The term ‘‘High-Density Public Land County’’ 8 means a county (or equivalent jurisdiction) of a 9 State or territory of the United States— 10 (A) that has a population of not more than 11 100,000 people, according to the most recent 12 annual estimates of population by the Bureau 13 of the Census; and 14 (B) in which more than 50 percent of the 15 land is owned or managed by the Federal Gov- 16 ernment. 17 (2) QUALIFYING GRANT PROGRAM.—The term 18 ‘‘qualifying grant program’’ means— 19 (A) the Rural Business Development grant 20 program established under section 310B(c) of 21 the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development 22 Act (7 U.S.C. 1932(c)); 23 (B) the Economic Impact Initiative grant 24 program established under section 25 306(a)(20)(B) of the Consolidated Farm and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S647.IS S647 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 647 IS Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1 1926(a)(20)(B)); 2 (C) the Telemedicine and Distance Learn- 3 ing Services grant program established under 4 chapter 1 of subtitle D of title XXIII of the 5 Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act 6 of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 950aaa et seq.); 7 (D) the Community Connect Grant Pro- 8 gram established under section 604 of the 9 Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 10 950bb–3); 11 (E) the broadband loan and grant pilot 12 program known as the ‘‘Rural eConnectivity 13 Pilot Program’’ or the ‘‘ReConnect Program’’, 14 authorized under section 779 of division A of 15 the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 16 (Public Law 115–141; 132 Stat. 399); 17 (F) any discretionary grant program of the 18 Rural Business-Cooperative Service, the Rural 19 Housing Service, the Rural Utilities Service, or 20 any other rural development agency of the De- 21 partment of Agriculture under which grants are 22 awarded to— 23 (i) counties; 24 (ii) other units of local government; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S647.IS S647 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 647 IS (iii) Tribal governments; and 1 (G) any other discretionary grant program 2 of the Department of Agriculture under which 3 grants for rural development are awarded to— 4 (i) counties; 5 (ii) other units of local government; or 6 (iii) Tribal governments. 7 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 8 the Secretary of Agriculture. 9 (4) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Tribal 10 government’’ means the recognized governing body 11 of any Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, 12 pueblo, village, community, component band, or com- 13 ponent reservation, individually identified (including 14 parenthetically) in the list published most recently as 15 of the date of enactment of this Act pursuant to sec- 16 tion 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe 17 List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131). 18 SEC. 3. GRANTS. 19 (a) REDUCTION IN LOCAL MATCHING REQUIRE- 20 MENTS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 21 with respect to a High-Density Public Land County and 22 any unit of local government or Tribal government within 23 a High-Density Public Land County, any requirement for 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S647.IS S647 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 647 IS local matching funds under a qualifying grant program 1 shall be reduced by 50 percent. 2 (b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—On request of a High- 3 Density Public Land County or any unit of local govern- 4 ment or Tribal government within a High-Density Public 5 Land County, the Secretary shall provide additional tech- 6 nical assistance to the High-Density Public Land County, 7 unit of local government, or Tribal government before and 8 during the annual application period for each qualifying 9 grant program. 10 (c) PRIORITY.— 11 (1) APPLICATION APPROVAL.—In approving ap- 12 plications for a qualifying grant program, the Sec- 13 retary shall give priority to an application from a 14 High-Density Public Land County, unit of local gov- 15 ernment within a High-Density Public Land County, 16 or Tribal government within a High-Density Public 17 Land County that has not received support under 18 the qualifying grant program during the 10-year pe- 19 riod preceding the date of the application. 20 (2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND OTHER SUP- 21 PORT.—In carrying out subsections (b) and (d), the 22 Secretary may give priority to a Tribal government 23 within a High-Density Public Land County. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S647.IS S647 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 647 IS (d) OTHER SUPPORT.—The Secretary may provide 1 additional support, as the Secretary determines to be ap- 2 propriate, for a High-Density Public Land County or a 3 unit of local government or Tribal government within a 4 High-Density Public Land County, including by consid- 5 ering and, if appropriate, offering flexibility with respect 6 to any requirement of, or barrier to applying for or receiv- 7 ing assistance under, a qualifying grant program if the 8 requirement or barrier relates to— 9 (1) scoring criteria relating to numerical size 10 and impact, such as the number of jobs created or 11 the number of people served, which disadvantage 12 small and isolated communities; 13 (2) any requirement that an applicant for a 14 qualifying grant program partner with other institu- 15 tions, such as community colleges or foundations, 16 which may not operate in the jurisdiction of the 17 High-Density Public Land County, unit of local gov- 18 ernment, or Tribal government seeking assistance 19 under the qualifying grant program; 20 (3) any financial or cash-on-hand requirement 21 that a High-Density Public Land County or a unit 22 of local government or Tribal government within a 23 High-Density Public Land County cannot meet for 24 reasons other than any financial constraints to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S647.IS S647 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 647 IS which the High-Density Public Land County, unit of 1 local government, or Tribal government is subject; or 2 (4) an overly complicated or overly technical ap- 3 plication for a qualifying grant program that deters 4 High-Density Public Land Counties or units of local 5 government or Tribal governments within High-Den- 6 sity Public Land Counties from applying for the 7 qualifying grant program. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S647.IS S647 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS