A bill to provide emergency assistance for independent poultry growers, and for other purposes.

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4353 To provide emergency assistance for independent poultry growers, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 29, 2020 Ms. SMITH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To provide emergency assistance for independent poultry growers, 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. EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE FOR INDEPENDENT 3 POULTRY GROWERS. 4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 5 (1) COVERED PERIOD.—The term ‘‘covered pe- 6 riod’’ means the period beginning on March 1, 2020, 7 and ending on the date on which the public health 8 emergency declared by the Secretary of Health and 9 Human Services under section 319 of the Public 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Aug 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4353.IS S4353 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4353 IS Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on January 1 31, 2020, with respect to COVID–19, is lifted. 2 (2) INDEPENDENT POULTRY GROWER.—The 3 term ‘‘independent poultry grower’’ means a poultry 4 grower (as defined in section 2(a) of the Packers 5 and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 182)) that as- 6 sumes the production and market risks associated 7 with the agricultural production of poultry. 8 (3) LIVE POULTRY DEALER.—The term ‘‘live 9 poultry dealer’’ has the meaning given the term in 10 section 2(a) of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 11 1921 (7 U.S.C. 182). 12 (4) POULTRY.—The term ‘‘poultry’’ has the 13 meaning given the term in section 2(a) of the Pack- 14 ers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 182). 15 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 16 the Secretary of Agriculture. 17 (b) CALCULATION OF LOSS.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 19 assistance under this section to an independent poul- 20 try grower that has experienced a loss of not less 21 than 5 percent in compensation for the production 22 of poultry due to a reduction in the number of head 23 of poultry purchased by a live poultry dealer from 24 the independent poultry grower, including expenses 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Aug 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4353.IS S4353 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4353 IS incurred from the cancellation or amendment of a 1 poultry order or a live turkey marketing agreement, 2 during the covered period, as compared to the his- 3 torical average compensation for the production of 4 poultry received by the independent poultry grower 5 for— 6 (A) the previous 3 years; or 7 (B) such shorter period, as determined by 8 the Secretary, in the case of an independent 9 poultry grower that has been engaged in the 10 production of poultry for less than 3 years. 11 (2) ADJUSTMENTS.—In determining the 12 amount of a loss under paragraph (1), the Secretary 13 may— 14 (A) deduct any variable costs avoided by 15 an independent poultry grower as a result of a 16 reduction in the production of poultry; and 17 (B) adjust the historical average com- 18 pensation described in that paragraph to ac- 19 count for instances of disease or other force 20 majeure events. 21 (3) DOCUMENTATION.—The Secretary may re- 22 quire an independent poultry grower to submit to 23 the Secretary such documentation as is necessary to 24 demonstrate, for the purpose of providing assistance 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Aug 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4353.IS S4353 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4353 IS under this section, ownership of poultry, historical 1 production levels, and evidence of the cancellation or 2 amendment of a poultry order or a live turkey mar- 3 keting agreement. 4 (4) ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall use ex- 5 isting Federal Government formulas, such as dis- 6 ease-loss values, to determine an appropriate basis 7 for assistance under this section. 8 (c) PAYMENT RATE.—The total amount of payments 9 received by an independent poultry grower under this sec- 10 tion shall be not less than 85 percent, and may not exceed 11 100 percent, of the losses of that independent poultry 12 grower described in subsection (b)(1). 13 (d) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 45 days after the 14 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue 15 regulations to carry out this section. 16 (e) FUNDING.—There are appropriated, out of any 17 amounts in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such 18 sums as are necessary to carry out this section. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Aug 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4353.IS S4353 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS