S. 4860

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4860 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4860

To amend the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 to 
establish a specialty crop emergency assistance framework, and for 
other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

June 23, 2026

Mr. Lujan (for himself, Ms. Slotkin, Mr. Warnock, Mr. Bennet, Mr. 
Booker, Mr. Fetterman, Mr. Wyden, and Mr. Hickenlooper) introduced the 
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 to 
establish a specialty crop emergency assistance framework, 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 ``Cultivating Horticultural Innovation 
in Local Economies Act of 2026'' or the ``CHILE Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. SPECIALTY CROP EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE FRAMEWORK.

(a) In General.--The Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act 
of 1996 is amended by inserting after section 196 (7 U.S.C. 7333) the 
following:

``SEC. 197. SPECIALTY CROP EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE FRAMEWORK.

``(a) Definition of Specialty Crop.--In this section, the term 
`specialty crop' has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the 
Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 (7 U.S.C. 1621 note; Public 
Law 108-465).
``(b) Framework.--The Secretary shall establish a framework to 
provide direct assistance to producers of specialty crops the 
production of which is impacted by an adverse event (including an 
economic crisis or market disruption), as determined by the Secretary, 
in accordance with this section.
``(c) Payment Calculation.--In determining a payment calculation 
for purposes of direct assistance to a producer of specialty crops 
under subsection (b), the Secretary shall calculate payments based on 
the product obtained by multiplying--
``(1) the producer's sales of specialty crops for a 
calendar year that precedes the year in which the adverse event 
described in that subsection occurred or the average of those 
sales over a set of consecutive calendar years that precedes 
the year in which that adverse event occurred, as determined by 
the Secretary; by
``(2) a payment factor the Secretary determines, subject to 
the availability of funds, to address losses of those specialty 
crops from that adverse event.
``(d) Special Rules.--Subject to subsection (e), in providing 
direct assistance pursuant to this section, the Secretary shall 
consider--
``(1) the higher value of specialty crops relative to other 
crops;
``(2) the greater input costs required to grow specialty 
crops relative to other crops; and
``(3) the diverse types of legal entities and business 
structures used by specialty crop producers.
``(e) Limitations.--
``(1) Total amount.--
``(A) In general.--Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), the total amount of payments 
received, directly or indirectly, by a person or legal 
entity (except a qualified pass through entity) (as 
those terms are defined in section 1001(a) of the Food 
Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308(a))) for any crop 
year under this section may not exceed the amount 
specified in subsection (b) of section 1001 of the Food 
Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308), as adjusted 
pursuant to subsection (i) of that section.
``(B) Exception.--In the case of a person or legal 
entity with an average gross income (as calculated 
under subparagraph (B) of section 1001D(b)(4) of the 
Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308-3a(b)(4))) for 
which greater than or equal to 75 percent of the 
average derives from farming, ranching, or silviculture 
activities (as defined in subparagraph (A) of that 
section)--
``(i) subparagraph (A) of this paragraph 
shall not apply; and
``(ii) the total maximum amount of payments 
received, directly or indirectly, by that 
person or legal entity for any crop year under 
this section shall be set by the Secretary, 
except that amount may not be less than 
$900,000.
``(2) Notification of interests; eligibility; denials.--
Sections 1001A(a), 1001B, and 1001C of the Food Security Act of 
1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308-1(a), 1308-2, 1308-3) shall apply to a 
producer of a specialty crop under this section in the same 
manner as those sections apply to a person or legal entity with 
respect to a covered commodity, except to the extent those 
sections relate to the application of subsections (b) through 
(d) of section 1001A of that Act (7 U.S.C. 1308-1).
``(f) Default Structure.--The Secretary shall administer any 
program to deliver direct assistance to producers of specialty crops 
described in subsection (b), including any direct assistance 
administered under the authority of section 5 of the Commodity Credit 
Corporation Charter Act (15 U.S.C. 714c), through the framework 
established under subsection (b).''.
(b) Appropriation.--There is appropriated to the Secretary of 
Agriculture, out of any amounts in the Treasury not otherwise 
appropriated, $5,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2027, to remain available 
until expended, to provide direct assistance to producers of specialty 
crops pursuant to section 197 of the Federal Agriculture Improvement 
and Reform Act of 1996 (as added by subsection (a)).
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