Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Agricultural Credit Expansion Act”.
Agricultural Credit Expansion Act
A BILL
To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to expand eligibility for Farm Service Agency loans.
Sec. 2 Eligibility for farm loans
Farm ownership loans— Section 302(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1922(a)) is amended—
by striking “(a) In general.—The” and inserting the following:
“(a) In general
“(1) Eligibility requirements—The”
in the 1st sentence, by inserting after “limited liability companies” the following: “, and such other legal entities as the Secretary deems appropriate,”;
in the 2nd sentence, by redesignating clauses (1) through (4) as clauses (A) through (D), respectively;
in each of the 2nd and 3rd sentences, by striking “and limited liability companies” each place it appears and inserting “limited liability companies, and such other legal entities”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(2) Special deeming rules
“(A) Eligibility of certain operating-only entities—An entity that is or will become only the operator of a family farm is deemed to meet the owner-operator requirements of paragraph (1) if the individuals that are the owners of the family farm own more than 50 percent (or such other percentage as the Secretary determines is appropriate) of the entity.
“(B) Eligibility of certain embedded entities—An entity that is an owner-operator described in paragraph (1), or an operator described in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph that is owned, in whole or in part, by other entities, is deemed to meet the direct ownership requirement imposed under paragraph (1) if at least 75 percent of the ownership interests of each embedded entity of such entity is owned directly or indirectly by the individuals that own the family farm.”
Conservation loans— Section 304(c)(1) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 1924(c)(1)) is amended by inserting after “limited liability companies” the following: “, or such other legal entities as the Secretary deems appropriate,”.
by striking “(a) In general.—The” and inserting the following:
“(a) In general
“(1) Eligibility requirements—The”
in the 1st sentence, by inserting after “limited liability companies” the following: “, and such other legal entities as the Secretary deems appropriate,”;
in the 2nd sentence, by redesignating clauses (1) through (4) as clauses (A) through (D), respectively;
in each of the 2nd and 3rd sentences, by striking “and limited liability companies” each place it appears and inserting “limited liability companies, and such other legal entities”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(2) Special deeming rule—An entity that is an operator described in paragraph (1) that is owned, in whole or in part, by other entities, is deemed to meet the direct ownership requirement imposed under paragraph (1) if at least 75 percent of the ownership interests of each embedded entity of such entity is owned directly or indirectly by the individuals that own the family farm.”
by striking “owner-operators (in the case of loans for a purpose under subtitle A) or operators (in the case of loans for a purpose under subtitle B)” each place it appears and inserting “(in the case of farm ownership loans in accordance with subtitle A) owner-operators or operators, or (in the case of loans for a purpose under subtitle B) operators”;
by inserting after “limited liability companies” the 1st place it appears the following: “, or such other legal entities as the Secretary deems appropriate”;
by inserting after “limited liability companies” the 2nd place it appears the following: “, or other legal entities”;
by striking “and limited liability companies,” and inserting “limited liability companies, and such other legal entities”;
by striking “ownership and operator” and inserting “ownership or operator”; and
by adding at the end the following: “An entity that is an owner-operator or operator described in this subsection is deemed to meet the direct ownership requirement imposed under this subsection if the entity is owned, in whole or in part, by other entities and each individual that is an owner of the family farm involved has a direct or indirect ownership interest in each of the other entities.”.
Conforming amendments—
Section 304(c)(2) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 1924(c)(2)) by striking “paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 302(a)” and inserting “subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 302(a)(1)”.
Section 310D of such Act (7 U.S.C. 1934) is amended—
by inserting after “partnership” the following: “, or such other legal entities as the Secretary deems appropriate,”; and
by inserting after “partners” the following: “, or owners,”.
Section 343(a)(11) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 1991(a)(11)) is amended—
by inserting after “joint operation,” the 1st place it appears the following: “or such other legal entity as the Secretary deems appropriate,”;
by striking “or joint operators” each place it appears and inserting “joint operators, or owners”; and
by inserting after “joint operation,” each other place it appears the following: “or such other legal entity,”.
Section 359(c)(2) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 2006a(c)(2)) is amended by striking “section 302(a)(2) or 311(a)(2)” and inserting “section 302(a)(1)(B) or 311(a)(1)(B)”.