H.R. 1951

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1951 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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''.
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