Small Cities and Towns Investment Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6459 To provide funds to enable counties to make competitive grants to qualified local units of government to address major community development and public infrastructure challenges, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 7, 2020 Ms. CRAIG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To provide funds to enable counties to make competitive grants to qualified local units of government to address major community development and public infrastructure challenges, 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 ‘‘Small Cities and 4 Towns Investment Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR COUNTIES. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture, 7 through the Rural Development Innovation Center, shall 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Apr 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6459.IH H6459 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6459 IH make a block grant in accordance with this Act to a county 1 with a submission approved by the Secretary under section 2 3, for each year in the 5-year period during which the plan 3 included in the submission is to be in effect. 4 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 5 (1) QUALIFIED LOCAL UNIT OF GOVERN- 6 MENT.—The term ‘‘qualified local unit of govern- 7 ment’’ means a town, city, village, township, or simi- 8 lar entity that has a population of no greater than 9 30,000 individuals. 10 (2) REGIONAL PLANNING ENTITY.—The term 11 ‘‘regional planning entity’’ means a regional plan- 12 ning commission, regional council, or council of gov- 13 ernments. 14 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 15 the Secretary of Agriculture. 16 SEC. 3. SUBMISSION; CONSOLIDATED PLAN. 17 (a) SUBMISSION.—A county that desires grants 18 under this Act shall submit to the Secretary a consolidated 19 plan that— 20 (1) provides a broad overview of the projects for 21 which the grants are to be used; 22 (2) identifies ways to engage residents of the 23 county (including by holding public hearings, pub- 24 lishing information on available funds, or providing 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Apr 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6459.IH H6459 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6459 IH technical assistance for persons interested in apply- 1 ing for grant funds) throughout the process of ap- 2 plying for, and using grants provided under this Act; 3 (3) identifies specific areas in need of improve- 4 ment in the county; 5 (4) describes the short- and long-term commu- 6 nity and economic development objectives of the 7 county; 8 (5) identifies the private, public, and nonprofit 9 institutions that are willing and able to assist in car- 10 rying out the plan; 11 (6) has been developed in coordination with the 12 regional planning entity for the area in which the 13 county is located (or, if there is no such entity for 14 the area, the Secretary), and using the Comprehen- 15 sive Economic Development Strategy developed by 16 the Economic Development Administration in coordi- 17 nation with the regional planning entity (or, if there 18 is no such entity, the Secretary); 19 (7) specifies the 5-year period during which the 20 plan is to be in effect; 21 (8) is submitted to the Secretary and the office 22 of economic development of the State in which the 23 county is located, not later than 45 days before the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Apr 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6459.IH H6459 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6459 IH beginning of the 5-year period referred to in para- 1 graph (7); and 2 (9) includes— 3 (A) a binding commitment from the State 4 in which the county is located to provide the 5 county with $10 (from funds not provided by 6 the Federal Government) to carry out the plan 7 for each $85 in funds provided to the county 8 under this Act to carry out the plan; and 9 (B) a binding commitment from the county 10 that the county will, alone or in combination 11 with one or more local units of government in 12 the county, expend a total of $5 (from funds 13 not provided by the Federal Government) for 14 each $85 in funds provided to the county under 15 this Act to carry out the plan. 16 (b) APPROVAL; DISAPPROVAL.— 17 (1) APPROVAL.—The Secretary shall approve a 18 submission that meets the requirements of sub- 19 section (a) if— 20 (A) not less than 80 percent of the grants 21 to be provided to the submitter under this Act 22 would be distributed to one or more qualified 23 local units of government through a competitive 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Apr 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6459.IH H6459 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6459 IH grant program, and the submitter would retain 1 not more than 20 percent of the grants; 2 (B) the grants would be used, in accord- 3 ance with the consolidated plan contained in the 4 submission, to purchase, construct, improve, or 5 operate essential community facilities (including 6 health care facilities; public facilities, such as 7 town halls, courthouses, airport hangers, or 8 public transportation; community support serv- 9 ices, such as workforce housing, child care cen- 10 ters, community centers, or transitional hous- 11 ing; public safety services; educational services, 12 including classroom technological moderniza- 13 tion; utility services, including environmental 14 protection services such as sewage disposal, 15 sanitation, and pollution abatement; local food 16 systems; and local amenities), purchase equip- 17 ment, and pay related project expenses, con- 18 sistent with section 5; and 19 (C) each qualified local unit of government 20 that would be receiving such a grant would en- 21 sure that each laborer and mechanic employed 22 by a contractor or subcontractor in performance 23 of construction work financed, in whole or in 24 part, by the grant would be paid wages at rates 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Apr 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6459.IH H6459 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6459 IH not less than the rates prevailing on similar 1 construction in the locality as determined by 2 the Secretary of Labor in accordance with sub- 3 chapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United 4 States Code (commonly known as the Davis- 5 Bacon Act); and 6 (D) the submitter demonstrates that there 7 is substantial community support for the plan. 8 (2) DISAPPROVAL.—The Secretary shall make 9 available to the general public the reasons for the 10 disapproval of a submission made pursuant to this 11 section. 12 SEC. 4. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall allocate the 14 amounts made available by this Act among counties with 15 submissions approved under section 3, in accordance a for- 16 mula prescribed by the Secretary in regulations, that the 17 Secretary determines would best allow counties to address 18 major community development and public infrastructure 19 challenges. In developing the formula, the Secretary shall 20 consider the following criteria: 21 (1) Per capita income levels. 22 (2) Population growth rates. 23 (b) EVALUATION.—Every 2 years, the Secretary shall 24 evaluate the effectiveness of the formula prescribed under 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Apr 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6459.IH H6459 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6459 IH subsection (a), and revise the formula, as necessary, to 1 best enable counties to address major community develop- 2 ment and public infrastructure challenges. 3 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall 4 submit to the Congress a report on each formula used 5 under this section, which sets forth the formula and ex- 6 plains how allocating the amounts made available by this 7 Act best achieves the purposes of this Act. 8 SEC. 5. LIMITATIONS; USE OF FUNDS. 9 (a) LIMITATIONS.—A local unit of government to 10 which a grant is made under this Act may not use the 11 grant— 12 (1) to discriminate against any person on the 13 basis of race, color, sex, age, sexual orientation, or 14 national origin; 15 (2) as matching funds to receive Federal funds 16 under any other law; or 17 (3) in contravention of the requirements under 18 sections 3141 through 3144, 3146, and 3147 of title 19 40, United States Code. 20 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—A county to which funds are 21 provided under this Act for a fiscal year shall reserve 1 22 percent of the funds for administration of the funds. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Apr 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6459.IH H6459 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6459 IH SEC. 6. ANNUAL ACTION REPORTS; AUDITS BY THE INSPEC- 1 TOR GENERAL. 2 (a) ANNUAL ACTION REPORTS.—By the end of each 3 year for which a grant is made under this Act to a county, 4 the county shall submit to the Secretary a report that— 5 (1) identifies the development goals of the coun- 6 ty for the succeeding year; 7 (2) contains a brief summary of the actions and 8 activities to be undertaken with funds provided 9 under this Act, and identifies specific, measurable 10 goals that match the priorities identified in the plan 11 to be carried out using the funds; 12 (3) outlines the Federal and non-Federal re- 13 sources that will be used in doing so; 14 (4) details the progress made by the county in 15 achieving the goals identified as described in this 16 subsection for the preceding year; and 17 (5) includes information on the amount of the 18 grant provided to the county for the year covered by 19 the report, and details on how the money was dis- 20 tributed for each project under the plan referred to 21 in section 3. 22 (b) AUDITS BY THE INSPECTOR GENERAL.—The In- 23 spector General of the Department of Agriculture shall 24 conduct periodic and random audits of the projects to 25 which funds are provided under this Act. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Apr 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6459.IH H6459 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6459 IH SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 1 There is authorized to be appropriated 2 $10,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2021 and each succeeding 3 fiscal year to make grants under this Act. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Apr 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6459.IH H6459 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS