II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1205 To modify market development programs under the Department of Agriculture, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 19, 2023 Mr. BROWN (for himself, Ms. SMITH, Mr. WELCH, and Mr. FETTERMAN) in- troduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To modify market development programs under the Department of Agriculture, 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 ‘‘Local Farms and Food 4 Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. LOCAL AGRICULTURE MARKET PROGRAM REFORM. 6 Section 210A of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 7 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1627c) is amended— 8 (1) in subsection (a)— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1205.IS S1205 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1205 IS (A) by redesignating paragraphs (5) 1 through (13) as paragraphs (6) through (14), 2 respectively; and 3 (B) by inserting after paragraph (4) the 4 following: 5 ‘‘(5) FOOD HUB.—The term ‘food hub’ means 6 a business or organization that actively manages the 7 aggregation, distribution, and marketing of source- 8 identified food products to multiple buyers from 9 multiple producers, who are primarily local and re- 10 gional producers, to strengthen the ability of those 11 producers to satisfy local and regional wholesale, re- 12 tail, and institutional demands.’’; 13 (2) in subsection (b)(4), by inserting ‘‘, regional 14 food chain coordination,’’ after ‘‘collaboration’’; 15 (3) in subsection (c)(4), by striking ‘‘stake- 16 holders.’’ and inserting ‘‘stakeholders, including eli- 17 gible entities described in subsection (d)(6)(B) that 18 receive a grant by submitting an application under 19 subsection (d)(6)(D) through a competitive coopera- 20 tive agreement with a nongovernmental organization, 21 before and after providing grants under the Pro- 22 gram.’’; 23 (4) in subsection (d)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1205.IS S1205 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1205 IS (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘2019 1 through 2023’’ and inserting ‘‘2024 through 2 2028’’; 3 (B) in paragraph (2)— 4 (i) in subparagraph (I), by striking 5 ‘‘or’’ at the end; 6 (ii) in subparagraph (J)(ii), by strik- 7 ing the period at the end and inserting a 8 semicolon; and 9 (iii) by adding at the end the fol- 10 lowing: 11 ‘‘(K) to support the purchase of general 12 purpose equipment; or 13 ‘‘(L) to support the logistics required for 14 the redemption of Federal nutrition benefits at 15 direct producer-to-consumer markets.’’; 16 (C) in paragraph (5)(E)— 17 (i) by striking ‘‘An eligible entity’’ 18 and inserting the following: 19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro- 20 vided in clause (ii), an eligible entity’’; and 21 (ii) by adding at the end the fol- 22 lowing: 23 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1205.IS S1205 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1205 IS ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—An eligible 1 entity described in subparagraph (B) 2 that has an adjusted gross income of 3 not more than $250,000 averaged 4 over the previous 3 years shall con- 5 tribute an amount of non-Federal 6 funds in the form of cash or an in- 7 kind contribution that is equal to 25 8 percent of the amount of Federal 9 funds received. 10 ‘‘(II) LIMITATION.—The amount 11 of Federal funds received under a 12 grant by an eligible entity that pro- 13 vides a reduced non-Federal contribu- 14 tion in accordance with subclause (I) 15 may not exceed $200,000. 16 ‘‘(III) REQUIRED DOCUMENTA- 17 TION.—The Secretary shall consider a 18 letter from an accountant stating that 19 the adjusted gross income of an eligi- 20 ble entity described in subparagraph 21 (B) is not more than $250,000 aver- 22 aged over the previous 3 years, based 23 on the line on Internal Revenue Serv- 24 ice form 1040 that describes adjusted 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1205.IS S1205 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1205 IS gross income, sufficient to dem- 1 onstrate eligibility for a reduced non- 2 Federal contribution under subclause 3 (I).’’; and 4 (D) in paragraph (6)— 5 (i) in subparagraph (B)— 6 (I) by redesignating clauses (vii) 7 and (viii) as clauses (viii) and (ix), re- 8 spectively; and 9 (II) by inserting after clause (vi) 10 the following: 11 ‘‘(vii) a food hub;’’; 12 (ii) in subparagraph (C)— 13 (I) in the matter preceding clause 14 (i), by inserting ‘‘, outreach, and tech- 15 nical assistance’’ after ‘‘applications’’; 16 (II) in clause (i)— 17 (aa) by inserting ‘‘would’’ 18 before ‘‘benefit’’; and 19 (bb) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 20 end; 21 (III) by redesignating clause (ii) 22 as clause (iii); 23 (IV) by inserting after clause (i) 24 the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1205.IS S1205 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1205 IS ‘‘(ii) would provide greater geographic 1 balance relative to the benefits of the Pro- 2 gram; or’’; and 3 (V) in clause (iii) (as so redesig- 4 nated), by striking ‘‘are used’’ and in- 5 serting ‘‘would be used’’; 6 (iii) by redesignating subparagraphs 7 (D) and (E) as subparagraphs (E) and 8 (F), respectively; 9 (iv) by inserting after subparagraph 10 (C) the following: 11 ‘‘(D) SIMPLIFIED APPLICATIONS.— 12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 13 shall establish a simplified ‘turnkey’ appli- 14 cation form for eligible entities described in 15 subparagraph (B) that— 16 ‘‘(I) request less than $100,000; 17 and 18 ‘‘(II) chose from the project cat- 19 egories described in clause (ii), which 20 shall include a specific, limited set of 21 key activities with predefined require- 22 ments established by the Secretary. 23 ‘‘(ii) PROJECT CATEGORIES.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1205.IS S1205 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1205 IS ‘‘(I) DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER 1 PROJECTS.—In the case of a direct-to- 2 consumer project, an application form 3 described in clause (i) shall be avail- 4 able for the following categories of 5 projects: 6 ‘‘(aa) An outreach and pro- 7 motion project. 8 ‘‘(bb) A project to provide 9 funding for farmers market man- 10 ager staff time. 11 ‘‘(cc) A project to provide 12 vendor training. 13 ‘‘(dd) A planning and design 14 project. 15 ‘‘(ee) A data collection and 16 evaluation project. 17 ‘‘(II) LOCAL AND REGIONAL 18 FOOD MARKETS AND ENTERPRISE 19 PROJECTS.—In the case of a local and 20 regional food market and enterprise 21 project, an application form described 22 in clause (i) shall be available for the 23 following categories of projects: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1205.IS S1205 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1205 IS ‘‘(aa) A food hub feasibility 1 study project. 2 ‘‘(bb) A project to provide 3 funding for regional food chain 4 coordination staff time. 5 ‘‘(cc) A project to provide 6 technical assistance. 7 ‘‘(dd) A data collection and 8 evaluation project. 9 ‘‘(ee) A project to purchase 10 general purpose equipment. 11 ‘‘(iii) GENERAL PURPOSE EQUIPMENT 12 GRANTS.—In the case of a project de- 13 scribed in clause (ii)(II)(ee), the Secretary, 14 acting through the Administrator of the 15 Agricultural Marketing Service, in coordi- 16 nation with the Administrator of the Rural 17 Business-Cooperative Service, shall fulfill 18 the applicable documentation and moni- 19 toring requirements under sections 20 200.313 and 200.439 of title 2, Code of 21 Federal Regulations (as in effect on the 22 date of enactment of this clause).’’; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1205.IS S1205 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1205 IS (v) in subparagraph (E) (as so redes- 1 ignated), by striking clause (ii) and insert- 2 ing the following: 3 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—An eligible entity 4 described in subparagraph (B) may use— 5 ‘‘(I) not more than $100,000 of 6 the amount of a grant for an eligible 7 activity described in subparagraph (J) 8 or (K) of paragraph (2)— 9 ‘‘(aa) to purchase or up- 10 grade equipment to improve food 11 safety; or 12 ‘‘(bb) to purchase general 13 purpose equipment; and 14 ‘‘(II) any amount of a grant to 15 purchase general purpose equipment 16 in accordance with subparagraph 17 (D)(ii)(II)(ee).’’; 18 (5) in subsection (e)(2)(A), by striking ‘‘2019’’ 19 and all that follows through the period at the end 20 and inserting the following: ‘‘2024 through 2028 to 21 support partnerships— 22 ‘‘(i) to plan a local or regional food 23 system; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1205.IS S1205 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1205 IS ‘‘(ii) to implement a local or regional 1 food system plan; 2 ‘‘(iii) to develop and implement a re- 3 gional food chain coordination project; and 4 ‘‘(iv) to develop and implement a re- 5 gional outreach, technical assistance, and 6 evaluation project.’’; 7 (6) in subsection (f)(1)— 8 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘sub- 9 section (d); or’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 10 (d)(5);’’ 11 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as 12 subparagraph (C); and 13 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (A) 14 the following: 15 ‘‘(B) are eligible to submit an application 16 in accordance with subsection (d)(6)(D); or’’; 17 and 18 (7) in subsection (i)— 19 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking 20 ‘‘$50,000,000 for fiscal year 2019’’ and insert- 21 ing ‘‘$75,000,000 for fiscal year 2024’’; 22 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking 23 ‘‘$20,000,000 for fiscal year 2019’’ and insert- 24 ing ‘‘$30,000,000 for fiscal year 2024’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1205.IS S1205 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1205 IS (C) in paragraph (3)(B)— 1 (i) by striking ‘‘Of the funds’’ and in- 2 serting the following: 3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Of the funds’’; 4 and 5 (ii) by adding at the end the fol- 6 lowing: 7 ‘‘(ii) SIMPLIFIED APPLICATIONS.—Of 8 the funds made available for grants under 9 subsection (d)(6) for a fiscal year, not less 10 than 25 percent, and not more than 50 11 percent, shall be used to provide grants to 12 eligible entities that submit an application 13 in accordance with subsection (d)(6)(D).’’. 14 SEC. 3. FUNDING FOR THE SENIORS FARMERS’ MARKET 15 NUTRITION PROGRAM. 16 Section 4402(a) of the Farm Security and Rural In- 17 vestment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 3007(a)) is amended by 18 striking ‘‘Of the funds’’ and all that follows through the 19 period at the end and inserting the following: 20 ‘‘(1) MANDATORY FUNDING.—Of the funds of 21 the Commodity Credit Corporation, the Secretary of 22 Agriculture shall use to carry out and expand the 23 seniors farmers’ market nutrition program 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1205.IS S1205 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1205 IS $20,600,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 1 2028. 2 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 3 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 4 this section $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 5 2024 through 2028.’’. 6 SEC. 4. FEDERAL SHARE FOR ACTIVITIES UNDER GUS 7 SCHUMACHER NUTRITION INCENTIVE PRO- 8 GRAM. 9 Section 4405(b)(1)(C) of the Food, Conservation, 10 and Energy Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 7517(b)(1)(C)) is 11 amended by striking ‘‘50’’ and inserting ‘‘75’’. 12 SEC. 5. PANEL TO REVIEW PRODUCE PRESCRIPTION PRO- 13 GRAM APPLICATIONS. 14 Section 4405(c)(3) of the Food, Conservation, and 15 Energy Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 7517(c)(3)) is amended by 16 adding at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(C) PANEL TO REVIEW APPLICATIONS.— 18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 19 shall establish a panel— 20 ‘‘(I) to review applications sub- 21 mitted to the Secretary pursuant to 22 this paragraph; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1205.IS S1205 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1205 IS ‘‘(II) to make recommendations 1 to the Secretary with respect to those 2 applications. 3 ‘‘(ii) MEMBERS.—The panel required 4 under clause (i) shall include— 5 ‘‘(I) at least 1 member with expe- 6 rience as a healthcare provider; and 7 ‘‘(II) at least 1 member with ex- 8 perience administering health plans.’’. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1205.IS S1205 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS