Relief for America's Small Farmers Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3782 To provide loan forgiveness for certain borrowers of Department of Agriculture direct farm loans, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 8, 2021 Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York (for himself, Mr. DELGADO, Ms. PINGREE, and Mr. WELCH) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide loan forgiveness for certain borrowers of Depart- ment of Agriculture direct farm loans, 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 ‘‘Relief for America’s 4 Small Farmers Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DIRECT FARM LOAN FORGIVENESS. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:25 Jun 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3782.IH H3782 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3782 IH (1) ELIGIBLE BORROWER.—The term ‘‘eligible 1 borrower’’ means a borrower of an eligible loan that 2 is actively engaged in farming (within the meaning 3 of section 1001A of the Food Security Act of 1985 4 (7 U.S.C. 1308–1)) with respect to a farming oper- 5 ation— 6 (A) for which the eligible loan was made; 7 and 8 (B) the average annual adjusted gross in- 9 come for the previous 5-year period of which is 10 not more than $300,000. 11 (2) ELIGIBLE LOAN.—The term ‘‘eligible loan’’ 12 means a loan made before March 19, 2020, that 13 is— 14 (A) a direct farm ownership loan under 15 subtitle A of the Consolidated Farm and Rural 16 Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1922 et seq.); 17 (B) a direct operating loan under subtitle 18 B of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Devel- 19 opment Act (7 U.S.C. 1941 et seq.); or 20 (C) an emergency loan under subtitle C of 21 the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development 22 Act (7 U.S.C. 1961 et seq.). 23 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 24 the Secretary of Agriculture. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:25 Jun 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3782.IH H3782 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3782 IH (b) LOAN FORGIVENESS.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 2 the date on which the Secretary receives an applica- 3 tion under paragraph (2), subject to paragraphs (3) 4 and (4), the Secretary shall cancel the obligation to 5 repay the balance of principal and interest due as of 6 the date of enactment of this Act on an eligible loan 7 for the eligible borrower. 8 (2) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for cancella- 9 tion under paragraph (1), not later than 1 year after 10 the date of enactment of this Act, an eligible bor- 11 rower shall submit to the Secretary an application, 12 which shall cover all eligible loans for which the eli- 13 gible borrower is seeking cancellation. 14 (3) LIMITATIONS.—The total amount cancelled 15 under paragraph (1) with respect to a farming oper- 16 ation shall be not more than $250,000. 17 (4) CONDITION.—The cancellation of an obliga- 18 tion under paragraph (1) shall be subject to the con- 19 dition that the applicable eligible borrower shall con- 20 tinue to be actively engaged in farming (within the 21 meaning of section 1001A of the Food Security Act 22 of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308–1)) for the 2-year period 23 beginning on the date on which the Secretary can- 24 cels the obligation under that paragraph. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:25 Jun 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3782.IH H3782 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3782 IH (c) EFFECT.—An eligible borrower that receives can- 1 cellation of an obligation with respect to an eligible loan 2 under subsection (b)(1) shall not be determined to be ineli- 3 gible for any loan under subtitle A, B, or C of the Consoli- 4 dated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1922 5 et seq.) because of that cancellation. 6 (d) TAXABILITY.—For purposes of the Internal Rev- 7 enue Code of 1986, any amount which (but for this sub- 8 section) would be includible in gross income of the eligible 9 borrower by reason of forgiveness described in subsection 10 (b) shall be excluded from gross income. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:25 Jun 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3782.IH H3782 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS