H.R. 1951

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 1951 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 1951 To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to reauthorize rural cooperative development grants. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 6, 2025 Mr. Riley of New York (for himself and Mr. Valadao) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to reauthorize rural cooperative development grants. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Strengthening Rural Cooperatives and Communities Act''. SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF RURAL COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT GRANTS. Section 310B(e) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1932(e)) is amended-- (1) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end the following: ``(C) Cooperative development.--The term `cooperative development' means activities including outreach, education, training, and technical assistance, to support the startup, expansion, or ongoing sustainability of new and existing cooperatives.''; (2) in paragraph (4), by inserting ``, and award maximum points in scoring criteria to applicants that satisfy the requirements of paragraph (5)(F),'' before ``if the plan''; (3) in paragraph (5), by striking subparagraph (D) and inserting the following: ``(D) commit to providing technical assistance and other services to socially vulnerable, underserved, or distressed communities;''; (4) in paragraph (6)(B), by striking ``If the Secretary determines it to be in the best interest of the program, the'' and inserting ``The''; (5) in paragraph (10), by adding at the end the following: ``The Secretary shall analyze the data resulting from the research, and include the data and the analysis in the annual report submitted by the interagency working group under paragraph (12).''; (6) in paragraph (12), by adding at the end the following: ``Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this sentence and annually thereafter, the interagency working group shall submit to the Congress a report describing the activities carried out by the working group.''; and (7) in paragraph (13), by striking ``2014 through 2023'' and inserting ``2025 through 2029''. <all>