(a)
Grants—
(1)
For pandemic premium pay— The Secretary of Agriculture shall, from amounts made available under subsection (g), award a grant to each covered agricultural producer that applies for a grant, in accordance with this section, for the purpose of providing premium pay to agricultural workers under section 102, including amounts paid under section 102(e).
(2)
Eligibility— Any covered agricultural producer, including a covered agricultural producer subject to a civil penalty under section 105, shall be eligible for a grant under paragraph (1).
(b)
Amount of grants—
(1)
In general— The maximum amount available for making a grant under subsection (a)(1) to a covered agricultural producer shall be equal to the sum of—
(A)
the amount obtained by multiplying $10,000 by the number of agricultural workers the producer certifies, in the application submitted under subsection (c)(1), as employing, or providing remuneration to for services or labor, who are paid wages or remuneration by the producer at a rate that is less than $100,000 per year; and
(B)
the amount obtained by multiplying $5,000 by the number of highly compensated agricultural workers the producer certifies, in the application submitted under subsection (c)(1), as employing, or providing remuneration to for services or labor, who are paid wages or remuneration by the producer at a rate that is equal to or greater than $100,000 per year.
(2)
No partial grants— The Secretary of Agriculture shall not award a grant under this section in an amount less than the maximum described in paragraph (1).
(c)
Grant application and disbursal—
(1)
Application— Any covered agricultural producer seeking a grant under subsection (a)(1) shall submit an application to the Secretary of Agriculture at such time, in such manner, and complete with such information as the Secretary may require.
(2)
Notice and certification—
(A)
In general— The Secretary of Agriculture shall, within 15 days after receiving a complete application from a covered agricultural producer eligible for a grant under this section—
(i)
notify the producer of the Secretary’s findings with respect to the requirements for the grant; and
(ii)
(I)
if the Secretary finds that the covered agricultural producer meets the requirements under this section for a grant under subsection (a), provide a certification to the producer—
(aa)
that the producer has met such requirements; and
(bb)
of the amount of the grant payment that the Secretary has determined the producer shall receive based on the requirements under this section; or
(II)
if the Secretary finds that the covered agricultural producer does not meet the requirements under this section for a grant under subsection (a), provide a notice of denial stating the reasons for the denial and provide an opportunity for administrative review by not later than 10 days after the denial.
(B)
Transfer— Not later than 7 days after making a certification under subparagraph (A)(ii) with respect to a covered agricultural producer, the Secretary of Agriculture shall make the appropriate transfer to the producer of the amount of the grant.
(d)
Use of funds—
(1)
In general— A covered agricultural producer receiving a grant under this section shall use the amount of the grant solely for the following purposes:
(A)
Providing premium pay under section 102(a) to agricultural workers in accordance with the requirements for such payments under such section, including providing payments described in section 102(e) to the next of kin of agricultural workers in accordance with the requirements for such payments under such section.
(B)
Paying employer payroll taxes with respect to premium pay amounts described in subparagraph (A), including such payments described in section 102(e).
(2)
No other uses authorized— A covered agricultural producer who uses any amount of a grant for a purpose not required under paragraph (1) shall be considered to have misused funds in violation of section 102.
(3)
Use of covered contractors—
(A)
In general— In any case where a covered agricultural producer receiving a grant under this section has, or enters into, an agreement with another entity regarding providing or paying agricultural workers for the covered agricultural producer—
(i)
the covered agricultural producer shall—
(I)
not later than 3 days after receipt of the grant funds under this section, notify, in writing, the contracting entity about the requirement under section 102 to provide premium pay to agricultural workers;
(II)
not later than 14 days after receipt of the grant funds under this section, transfer the amounts needed to provide premium pay under section 102(a), including providing payments described in section 102(e), to the contracting entity for disbursement to the agricultural workers; and
(III)
remain responsible for the use of the funds in accordance with paragraph (1) and section 102; and
(ii)
the contracting entity shall—
(I)
as a condition of receipt of such amounts, agree, in writing, to comply with the requirements of section 102, with respect to the agricultural workers of the covered agricultural producer; and
(II)
maintain, and report to the covered agricultural producer and the Secretary of Labor, payroll documents recording the payment of premium pay to the agricultural workers.
(B)
Effect of transfer of funds— By accepting grant funds under subparagraph (A) from a covered agricultural producer—
(i)
the covered contractor agrees to provide premium pay, in accordance with paragraph (1) and as required under section 102, to the agricultural workers of the covered agricultural producer and to comply with the requirements of section 105(a)(1)(B) with respect to such agricultural workers; and
(ii)
the covered contractor shall be subject to the enforcement provisions under section 105 for violating section 102 or section 105(a)(1)(B) with respect to such agricultural workers.
(4)
Refund—
(A)
In general— If a covered agricultural producer receives a grant under this section and, for any reason, does not provide every dollar of such grant to agricultural workers in accordance with the requirements of this Act, then the producer shall refund any such dollars to the Secretary of Agriculture not later than June 30, 2021. Any amounts returned to the Secretary shall remain available to the Secretary for additional grants under this section.
(B)
Requirement for not reducing compensation— A covered agricultural producer who is required to refund any amount under this paragraph shall not reduce or otherwise diminish an eligible worker’s compensation or benefits in response to or otherwise due to such refund.
(e)
Recoupment— In addition to all other enforcement and remedies available under this Act or any other law, the Secretary of Agriculture shall establish a process under which the Secretary shall recoup the amount of any grant awarded under subsection (a)(1) if the Secretary determines that the covered agricultural producer receiving the grant—
(1)
did not provide all of the dollars of such grant to the agricultural workers of the producer or, in the case of payments made under section 102(e), the next of kin of such workers;
(2)
did not, in fact, have the number of agricultural workers certified by the producer in accordance with subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection (b)(1);
(3)
did not pay the agricultural workers for the number of hours the producer claimed to have paid; or
(4)
otherwise misused funds or violated this section.
(f)
Tax treatment—
(1)
Exclusion from income— For purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, any grant received by a covered agricultural producer under this section shall not be included in the gross income of such covered agricultural producer.
(2)
Denial of double benefit—
(A)
In general— In the case of a covered agricultural producer that receives a grant under this section—
(i)
amounts paid under subsection (a) or (e) of section 102 shall not be taken into account as wages for purposes of sections 41, 45A, 51, or 1396 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or section 2301 of the CARES Act (
Public Law 116–136); and
(ii)
any deduction otherwise allowable under such Code for applicable payments during any taxable year shall be reduced (but not below zero) by the excess (if any) of—
(I)
the aggregate amounts of grants received under this section; over
(II)
the sum of any amount refunded under subsection (d) plus the aggregate amount of applicable payments made for all preceding taxable years.
(B)
Applicable payments— For purposes of this paragraph, the term applicable payments means amounts paid as premium pay under subsection (a) or (e) of section 102 and amounts paid for employer payroll taxes with respect to such amounts.
(C)
Aggregation rule— Rules similar to the rules of subsections (a) and (b) of
section 52 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 shall apply for purposes of this section.
(3)
Information reporting— The Secretary of Agriculture shall submit to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue statements containing—
(A)
the name and tax identification number of each covered agricultural producer receiving a grant under this section;
(B)
the amount of such grant; and
(C)
any amounts refunded under subsection (d)(4).
(g)
Authorization and appropriations— There are authorized to be appropriated, and there are appropriated, out of any amounts in the Treasury not appropriated, such sums as are necessary for the Secretary of Agriculture to award grants under this section to all eligible agricultural producers that submit a complete application under subsection (c).
(h)
Emergency designation—
(1)
In general— The amounts provided by this section are designated as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 4(g) of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (
2 U.S.C. 933(g)).
(2)
Designation in senate— In the Senate, this section is designated as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 4112(a) of H. Con. Res. 71 (115th Congress), the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018.