Rural Equal Aid Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7996 To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to subsidize payments on loans made under certain rural development loan programs, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 11, 2020 Mrs. AXNE (for herself, Mr. TIPTON, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. BALDERSON, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, and Mr. GOLDEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to subsidize pay- ments on loans made under certain rural development loan programs, 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 ‘‘Rural Equal Aid Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. SUBSIDY FOR CERTAIN RURAL DEVELOPMENT 5 LOAN PAYMENTS. 6 (a) DEFINITION OF COVERED LOAN.—In this sec- 7 tion, the term ‘‘covered loan’’ means a loan that is— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:47 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7996.IH H7996 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7996 IH (1) made by an intermediary lender to an ulti- 1 mate recipient using a loan received under section 2 1323 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 3 1932 note; Public Law 99–198) or section 310H of 4 the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act 5 (7 U.S.C. 1936b; Public Law 113–79); 6 (2) made by a microenterprise development or- 7 ganization to a microentrepreneur under section 8 379E of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Develop- 9 ment Act (7 U.S.C. 2008s); 10 (3) a community facility loan made or guaran- 11 teed under section 306(a)(1) of the Consolidated 12 Farm and Rural Development Act; or 13 (4) guaranteed under section 310B(g) of the 14 Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act. 15 (b) PRINCIPAL AND INTEREST PAYMENTS.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture 17 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall 18 pay the principal, interest, and any associated fees 19 that are owed on a covered loan in a regular serv- 20 icing status— 21 (A) with respect to a covered loan made 22 before the date of enactment of this Act and 23 not on deferment, for the 6-month period begin- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:47 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7996.IH H7996 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7996 IH ning with the next payment due on the covered 1 loan; 2 (B) with respect to a covered loan made 3 before the date of enactment of this Act and on 4 deferment, for the 6-month period beginning 5 with the next payment due on the covered loan 6 after the deferment period; and 7 (C) with respect to a covered loan made 8 during the period beginning on the date of en- 9 actment of this Act and ending on the date that 10 is 6 months after that date of enactment, for 11 the 6-month period beginning with the first 12 payment due on the covered loan. 13 (2) TIMING OF PAYMENT.—The Secretary shall 14 begin making payments under paragraph (1) on a 15 covered loan not later than 30 days after the date 16 on which the first payment described in that para- 17 graph is due. 18 (3) APPLICATION OF PAYMENT.—Any payment 19 made by the Secretary under paragraph (1) shall be 20 applied to the covered loan such that the borrower 21 is relieved of the obligation to pay that amount. 22 (c) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall— 23 (1) communicate and coordinate with the Fed- 24 eral Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:47 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7996.IH H7996 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7996 IH Comptroller of the Currency, and State bank regu- 1 lators to encourage those entities to not require 2 lenders to increase their reserves on account of re- 3 ceiving payments made by the Secretary under sub- 4 section (b); 5 (2) waive statutory limits on maximum loan 6 maturities for any covered loan durations where the 7 lender provides a deferral and extends the maturity 8 of covered loans during the 1-year period following 9 the date of enactment of this Act; and 10 (3) when necessary to provide more time be- 11 cause of the potential of higher volumes, travel re- 12 strictions, and the inability to access some properties 13 during the COVID–19 pandemic, extend lender site 14 visit requirements to— 15 (A) not more than 60 days (which may be 16 extended at the discretion of the Secretary) 17 after the occurrence of an adverse event, other 18 than a payment default, causing a loan to be 19 classified as in liquidation; and 20 (B) not more than 90 days after a pay- 21 ment default. 22 (d) EFFECT.—Nothing in this section limits the au- 23 thority of the Secretary to make payments pursuant to 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:47 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7996.IH H7996 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7996 IH subsection (b) with respect to a covered loan solely because 1 the covered loan has been sold in the secondary market. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:47 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7996.IH H7996 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS