BALE Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2186 To amend the Agricultural Act of 1961 to modify the limitations applicable to qualified conservation loan guarantees, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 26, 2021 Mr. BOST (for himself and Ms. KELLY of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To amend the Agricultural Act of 1961 to modify the limita- tions applicable to qualified conservation loan guarantees, 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 ‘‘Beginning 4 Agriculturalist Lifetime Employment Act of 2021’’ or the 5 ‘‘BALE Act of 2021’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:05 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2186.IH H2186 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2186 IH SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS APPLICABLE TO QUALIFIED CON- 1 SERVATION LOAN GUARANTEES. 2 (a) LIMITATIONS APPLICABLE TO LOAN GUARAN- 3 TEES.—Section 304(e) of the Agricultural Act of 1961 (7 4 U.S.C. 1924(e)) is amended to read as follows: 5 ‘‘(e) LIMITATIONS APPLICABLE TO LOAN GUARAN- 6 TEES.— 7 ‘‘(1) PERCENTAGE OF LOAN GUARANTEED.— 8 The portion of a loan that the Secretary may guar- 9 antee under this section shall— 10 ‘‘(A) depend on the principal amount of 11 the loan; and 12 ‘‘(B) except as provided in paragraph (2), 13 may not exceed the percentage specified for 14 that principal amount in the following table: 15 ‘‘Principal Amount More Than Principal Amount Equal To Or Less Than Maximum Percent $0 ......................................... $3,000,000 ....................................... 90% $3,000,000 ........................... $3,100,000 ....................................... 89% $3,100,000 ........................... $3,200,000 ....................................... 88% $3,200,000 ........................... $3,300,000 ....................................... 87% $3,300,000 ........................... $3,400,000 ....................................... 86% $3,400,000 ........................... $3,500,000 ....................................... 85% $3,500,000 ........................... $3,600,000 ....................................... 84% $3,600,000 ........................... $3,700,000 ....................................... 83% $3,700,000 ........................... $3,800,000 ....................................... 82% $3,800,000 ........................... $3,900,000 ....................................... 81% $3,900,000 ........................... $4,000,000 ....................................... 80%. ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN PRODUCERS.— 16 In the case of a loan to a producer that is a quali- 17 fied beginning farmer or rancher or a socially dis- 18 advantaged farmer or rancher (as the term is de- 19 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:05 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2186.IH H2186 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2186 IH fined in section 355(e)), the portion of the loan the 1 Secretary may guarantee under this paragraph may 2 not exceed the percentage specified for the principal 3 amount of the loan in the following table: 4 ‘‘Principal Amount More Than Principal Amount Equal To Or Less Than Maximum Percent $0 ......................................... $3,000,000 ....................................... 95% $3,000,000 ........................... $3,100,000 ....................................... 94% $3,100,000 ........................... $3,200,000 ....................................... 93% $3,200,000 ........................... $3,300,000 ....................................... 92% $3,300,000 ........................... $3,400,000 ....................................... 91% $3,400,000 ........................... $3,500,000 ....................................... 90% $3,500,000 ........................... $3,600,000 ....................................... 89% $3,600,000 ........................... $3,700,000 ....................................... 88% $3,700,000 ........................... $3,800,000 ....................................... 87% $3,800,000 ........................... $3,900,000 ....................................... 86% $3,900,000 ........................... $4,000,000 ....................................... 85%. ‘‘(3) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The Secretary may 5 not guarantee a loan under this section in an 6 amount that exceeds $4,000,000. 7 ‘‘(4) ANNUAL INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—The 8 Secretary shall annually adjust the dollar figures 9 under paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) to reflect the 10 change in the Prices Paid By Farmers Index (as 11 compiled by the National Agricultural Statistics 12 Service of the Department of Agriculture).’’. 13 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 14 section shall apply with respect to qualified conservation 15 loans entered into by the Secretary of Agriculture under 16 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:05 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2186.IH H2186 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2186 IH section 304 of the Agricultural Act of 1961 (7 U.S.C. 1 1924) on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:05 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2186.IH H2186 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS