Flexible Financing for Rural America Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7483 To provide for the adjustment or modification by the Secretary of Agriculture of loans for critical rural utility service providers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 2, 2020 Mrs. HARTZLER (for herself and Mr. O’HALLERAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, and the Budget, for a pe- riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con- sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To provide for the adjustment or modification by the Sec- retary of Agriculture of loans for critical rural utility service providers, 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 ‘‘Flexible Financing for 4 Rural America Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7483.IH H7483 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7483 IH SEC. 2. LOAN ADJUSTMENTS FOR CRITICAL RURAL UTILITY 1 SERVICE PROVIDERS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 3 date of enactment of this Act, the borrower of a qualified 4 loan described in subsection (b) may submit to the Sec- 5 retary of Agriculture (referred to in this section as the 6 ‘‘Secretary’’) a request to adjust the interest rate or mod- 7 ify any other term of the qualified loan, which shall include 8 a report summarizing how the loan adjustment would as- 9 sist the borrower in providing critical utility services to 10 rural communities. 11 (b) QUALIFIED LOAN DESCRIBED.—A qualified loan 12 referred to in subsection (a) is a loan made or guaranteed 13 on or before the date of enactment of this Act under— 14 (1) section 4, 201, 305, 306, or 601 of the 15 Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 904, 16 922, 935, 936, 950bb); or 17 (2) the program carried out under the matter 18 under the heading ‘‘DISTANCE LEARNING, TELE- 19 MEDICINE, AND BROADBAND PROGRAM’’ in title I of 20 division A of the American Recovery and Reinvest- 21 ment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–5; 123 Stat. 22 118) (commonly known as the ‘‘Broadband Initia- 23 tives Program’’). 24 (c) ADJUSTMENT OF INTEREST RATE; MODIFICA- 25 TION OF LOAN TERMS.— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7483.IH H7483 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7483 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—On receipt of a request 1 made under subsection (a) with respect to a loan, 2 the Secretary— 3 (A) in the case of a request for an interest 4 rate adjustment, shall adjust the interest rate 5 on the loan to the cost of funds to the Depart- 6 ment of the Treasury, as of the date of enact- 7 ment of this Act, for obligations of comparable 8 maturity to the term remaining on the out- 9 standing balance of the loan or other such high- 10 er rate as the borrower may request; and 11 (B) in the case of a request for a modifica- 12 tion to a loan term other than the adjustment 13 described in subparagraph (A), may use the au- 14 thorities provided in sections 2, 201, 306C and 15 703 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 16 U.S.C. 902, 922, 936c, 950cc–2) and section 17 331(b)(4) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural 18 Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1981(b)(4)) to 19 make such other modifications to the loan 20 terms that the Secretary determines are nec- 21 essary— 22 (i) to address changes in the financial 23 position of the borrower due to the public 24 health emergency declared by the Secretary 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7483.IH H7483 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7483 IH of Health and Human Services under sec- 1 tion 319 of the Public Health Service Act 2 (42 U.S.C. 247d) on January 31, 2020, 3 with respect to COVID–19; and 4 (ii) to promote the financial sustain- 5 ability of the borrower. 6 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—An adjustment or 7 modification under subparagraph (A) or (B), respec- 8 tively, of paragraph (1) shall apply beginning on the 9 first day after the close of the period with respect 10 to which the first payment due on the loan after the 11 date of the request applies. 12 (d) NO FEES OR PENALTIES.—In carrying out this 13 section, the Secretary shall not impose or collect any fee 14 from, or impose any penalty on, a borrower. 15 (e) NOTICE.—Not later than 30 days after the date 16 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall publish in 17 the Federal Register a notice of the benefits available to 18 borrowers under this section. 19 (f) APPROPRIATION.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Out of any amounts in the 21 Treasury not otherwise appropriated, there are ap- 22 propriated to the Secretary— 23 (A) such sums as are necessary to carry 24 out subsection (c)(1)(A); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7483.IH H7483 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7483 IH (B) $300,000,000 to carry out subsection 1 (c)(1)(B). 2 (2) AVAILABILITY.—The amounts appropriated 3 by paragraph (1) shall remain available through De- 4 cember 31, 2021. 5 (g) EMERGENCY DESIGNATION.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amounts provided by 7 this Act are designated as an emergency require- 8 ment pursuant to section 4(g) of the Statutory Pay- 9 As-You-Go Act of 2010 (2 U.S.C. 933(g)). 10 (2) DESIGNATION IN SENATE.—In the Senate, 11 this Act is designated as an emergency requirement 12 pursuant to section 4112(a) of H. Con. Res. 71 13 (115th Congress), the concurrent resolution on the 14 budget for fiscal year 2018. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7483.IH H7483 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS