H.R. 5138

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5138 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5138

To amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to 
authorize grants for eligible institutions to carry out agriculture 
workforce training programs, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

September 4, 2025

Mr. Finstad (for himself and Ms. Pingree) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to 
authorize grants for eligible institutions to carry out agriculture 
workforce training programs, and for other purposes.

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 ``Agriculture Skills Preparation for 
Industry Recruitment Efforts Act'' or the ``ASPIRE Act''.

SEC. 2. AGRICULTURE WORKFORCE TRAINING PROGRAM GRANTS.

(a) In General.--Section 2501(d) of the Food, Agriculture, 
Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 2279(d)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
``(16) Agriculture workforce training program grants.--
``(A) Definitions.--In this paragraph:
``(i) Agriculture workforce training 
program.--The term `agriculture workforce 
training program' means a training program 
developed by an eligible institution in 
collaboration with a targeted industry partner 
through which students enrolled at that 
eligible institution receive training from that 
targeted industry partner, including through--
``(I) internships;
``(II) apprenticeships;
``(III) experience-based curricula; 
and
``(IV) educational programs and 
workshops to promote technical skills.
``(ii) Eligible institution.--The term 
`eligible institution' means--
``(I) an 1862 Institution (as 
defined in section 2 of the 
Agricultural Research, Extension, and 
Education Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 
7601));
``(II) an 1890 Institution (as 
defined in that section);
``(III) a 1994 Institution (as 
defined in section 532 of the Equity in 
Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 
1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 note; Public Law 
103-382));
``(IV) a non-land-grant college of 
agriculture (as defined in section 1404 
of the National Agricultural Research, 
Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 
1977 (7 U.S.C. 3103));
``(V) Hispanic-serving agricultural 
colleges and universities (as defined 
in that section);
``(VI) a center of excellence 
recognized under section 1673;
``(VII) a junior or community 
college (as defined in section 312 of 
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1058)) that offers a program of 
study in agriculture; and
``(VIII) an area career and 
technical education school (as defined 
in section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins 
Career and Technical Education Act of 
2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302)) that offers a 
program of study in agriculture.
``(iii) Targeted industry partner.--The 
term `targeted industry partner' means 1 or 
more of the following entities:
``(I) A member of the agriculture 
industry, such as a company or industry 
association.
``(II) An apprenticeship program in 
agriculture registered under the Act of 
August 16, 1937 (commonly known as the 
`National Apprenticeship Act') (50 
Stat. 664, chapter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et 
seq.).
``(III) A nonprofit organization 
that aims to help individuals gain 
employment in the agriculture industry.
``(B) Authorization of grants.--The Secretary, 
acting through the Director of the National Institute 
of Food and Agriculture, shall award grants in 
accordance with this subsection to eligible 
institutions to develop and carry out agriculture 
workforce training programs--
``(i) to promote the growth of the 
agriculture industry;
``(ii) to foster competitiveness within the 
agriculture industry; and
``(iii) to improve the training and 
retention of workers in the agriculture 
industry.
``(C) Use of grant funds.--An eligible institution 
awarded a grant under this paragraph shall use not less 
than 5 percent of the funds received through the grant 
to carry out an agriculture workforce training program, 
including--
``(i) preliminary recruitment measures to 
encourage students to participate in the 
agriculture workforce training program; and
``(ii) professional development sessions to 
train faculty to prepare students for 
employment in the agriculture industry.''.
(b) Implementation.--Not later than January 31, 2026, the Secretary 
of Agriculture shall implement paragraph (16) of section 2501(d) of the 
Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 
2279(d)) (as added by subsection (a)).
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