Agricultural Fairs Rescue Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1092 To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a program under which the Secretary awards grants to States or State departments of agri- culture for the purpose of providing support to agricultural fairs for losses sustained due to COVID–19. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 13, 2021 Ms. SMITH (for herself and Mr. BLUNT) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a program under which the Secretary awards grants to States or State departments of agriculture for the purpose of pro- viding support to agricultural fairs for losses sustained due to COVID–19. 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 ‘‘Agricultural Fairs Res- 4 cue Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. AGRICULTURAL FAIR RESCUE GRANTS. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1092.IS S1092 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1092 IS (1) COVID–19 NATIONAL EMERGENCY.—The 1 term ‘‘COVID–19 national emergency’’ means the 2 national emergency declared by the President under 3 the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et 4 seq.) on March 13, 2020, with respect to the 5 Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19). 6 (2) ELIGIBLE AGRICULTURAL FAIR.—The term 7 ‘‘eligible agricultural fair’’ means a local, county, or 8 State fair that— 9 (A) is— 10 (i) a subunit of a government entity; 11 (ii) a public corporation organized and 12 existing pursuant to State law; or 13 (iii) owned and operated as an organi- 14 zation described in section 501(c) of the 15 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and ex- 16 empt from taxation under section 501(a) 17 of that Code; and 18 (B) helps farmers, ranchers, or foresters— 19 (i) promote their products; or 20 (ii) expand agricultural markets 21 through conservation programs, agricul- 22 tural research, educational programs, or 23 other events that encourage agriculture, 24 horticulture, and the domestic arts. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1092.IS S1092 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1092 IS (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 1 (A) each of the several States; 2 (B) the District of Columbia; 3 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 4 (D) Guam; 5 (E) American Samoa; 6 (F) the United States Virgin Islands; and 7 (G) the Commonwealth of the Northern 8 Mariana Islands. 9 (4) STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.— 10 The term ‘‘State department of agriculture’’ 11 means— 12 (A) the agency, commission, or department 13 of a State government responsible for agri- 14 culture in the State; or 15 (B) another appropriate State agency as- 16 signed with the promotion of agricultural fairs. 17 (b) AUTHORIZATION FOR GRANTS.—Not later than 18 September 30, 2021, the Secretary of Agriculture, acting 19 through the Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing 20 Service, shall award a grant to each State department of 21 agriculture for the purpose of providing support to eligible 22 agricultural fairs for losses sustained by those eligible ag- 23 ricultural fairs due to COVID–19. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1092.IS S1092 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1092 IS (c) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of a grant to 1 a State department of agriculture under this section shall 2 be based on the difference between— 3 (1) the average attendance at agricultural fairs 4 in the applicable State for— 5 (A) a calendar year occurring during the 6 3-calendar-year period beginning with calendar 7 year 2017; or 8 (B) if attendance data is not available for 9 the entire 3-calendar-year period described in 10 subparagraph (A), a period shorter than a cal- 11 endar year occurring during that 3-calendar- 12 year period; and 13 (2) the average attendance at agricultural fairs 14 in the applicable State for calendar year 2020. 15 (d) CONDITIONS.—As a condition on the receipt of 16 a grant under this section, a State department of agri- 17 culture shall agree— 18 (1) to prioritize supporting eligible agricultural 19 fairs in the State facing the greatest financial hard- 20 ship; and 21 (2) to use not more than 5 percent of grant 22 funds for administrative costs incurred in providing 23 support to eligible agricultural fairs. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1092.IS S1092 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1092 IS (e) USE OF FUNDS.—A State department of agri- 1 culture that receives a grant under this section may only 2 use grant funds to assist eligible agricultural fairs that— 3 (1) host annual events that are drivers and pro- 4 moters of agribusiness in the State (as determined 5 by the State); 6 (2) have experienced a closure, stoppage, or 7 cancellation of local, county, or State fair operations 8 as a direct or indirect result of— 9 (A) the COVID–19 national emergency; or 10 (B) any associated actions taken by any 11 governmental authority at the Federal, State, 12 county, or municipal level in response to that 13 national emergency; 14 (3) agree to, and demonstrate the intent to, re- 15 establish a fair not later than 18 months after the 16 termination of the COVID–19 national emergency; 17 (4) agree to use all grant funds during the 18- 18 month period that begins on the date on which those 19 funds are received; 20 (5) agree to use funds received under this sec- 21 tion— 22 (A) for operating capital expenses; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1092.IS S1092 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1092 IS (B) to reimburse operating expenses paid 1 from reserves not originally intended for oper- 2 ating expenses; 3 (C) to repay indebtedness incurred to pay 4 operating expenses; or 5 (D) to repay other third parties that con- 6 tributed to funding operating expenses; and 7 (6) agree not to use funds received under this 8 section for capital improvements. 9 (f) FUNDING.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 11 appropriated to make grants under this section 12 $500,000,000 for— 13 (A) fiscal year 2021; 14 (B) each succeeding fiscal year occurring 15 during the COVID–19 national emergency; and 16 (C) the first fiscal year immediately fol- 17 lowing the fiscal year in which the COVID–19 18 national emergency is terminated. 19 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of the funds 20 made available under paragraph (1) to carry out this 21 section for a fiscal year, not more than 8 percent 22 may be used for expenses related to administering 23 the program under this section. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1092.IS S1092 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS