S. 278 · 117th Congress
Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act of 2021
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Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 117th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.
D
WarnockSponsor9 cosponsors · 9 D
D
Booker
AK
D
Klobuchar
PL
D
Leahy
BL
D
Luján
DS
D
Stabenow
SB
D
Brown
KG
D
Gillibrand
TS
D
Smith
RB
D
Blumenthal5 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.
This bill provides funds for the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide assistance to address historical discrimination and disparities in the agriculture sector.
What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in Senate · Feb 8, 2021
Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act of 2021
This bill provides funds for the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide assistance to address historical discrimination and disparities in the agriculture sector.
For example, USDA must provide debt forgiveness to help socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers pay off outstanding farm loan debts and address issues relating to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019).
Additionally, USDA must provide a competitive grant to a school of law or legal research entity to establish the National Center for Minority Farmer Agricultural Law Research and Information. It must also provide grants and loans to resolve property issues relating to ownership and succession on farmland.
The bill provides financial assistance to cooperative development centers, individual cooperatives, or groups of cooperatives that serve socially disadvantaged groups. It also provides financial assistance and technical assistance to certain nonprofit organizations that provide services to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.
USDA must provide support for research, education, and extension at historically Black colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions. It must also provide grants to land-grant colleges and universities for student scholarships, including for students who are members of Indian tribes and pursuing an agricultural field of study.
The bill also requires USDA to establish an equity commission to address and mitigate discrimination across its agency.
Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov
About this bill and sources
Official title: Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act of 2021
Latest action (Feb 8, 2021): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Policy area: Agriculture and Food · Origin: Senate · Introduced: Feb 8, 2021
Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)
No recorded floor vote found.