115 HR 3839 IH: Today’s American Dream Act U.S. House of Representatives 2017-09-26 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I115th CONGRESS1st SessionH. R. 3839IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESSeptember 26, 2017Ms. Kelly of Illinois (for herself, Mr. Pocan, Mr. Evans, Ms. Lee, Ms. Slaughter, Mr. Swalwell of California, Mr. Hastings, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. Cartwright, Ms. Norton, Mrs. Lawrence, Ms. Moore, Mr. Richmond, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Veasey, Ms. Sewell of Alabama, Ms. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, Mr. Ryan of Ohio, Ms. Kuster of New Hampshire, Mr. Gutiérrez, Mr. Tonko, Ms. Adams, Ms. Plaskett, Mr. Welch, and Ms. Esty of Connecticut) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Education and the Workforce, Agriculture, Financial Services, Small Business, Energy and Commerce, the Judiciary, and Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concernedA BILLTo address slow economic growth and spur investment and development in underserved communities across America.

1.

Short title; table of contents

(a)

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Today’s American Dream Act. (b)

Table of contents

The table of contents for this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Title I—Workforce Investment Sec. 101. Job skills training for older individuals. Sec. 102. Extension of work opportunity tax credit for certain targeted groups. Sec. 103. Youth and summer jobs. Sec. 104. YouthBuild program. Sec. 105. Tax credit for providing programs for students that promote economic and financial literacy. Sec. 106. Teacher recruiting. Sec. 107. Recidivism reduction working group. Sec. 108. Commendable release program. Sec. 109. Increase in Work Opportunity Tax Credit for hiring qualified ex-felons. Sec. 110. Extension of work opportunity tax credit for certain targeted groups. Sec. 111. Entrepreneurship apprenticeships. Sec. 112. Expansion of eligible programs. Title II—Community Investment Subtitle A—Housing Sec. 201. Housing and commercial development. Subtitle B—Retail Redlining and Food Deserts Sec. 221. Economic growth, retention, and recruitment of commercial investment in economically underserved communities. Sec. 222. Producer discretion to plant additional fruits and vegetables on base acres to alleviate food deserts without a resulting reduction in payment acres. Subtitle C—Digital infrastructure Sec. 231. GAO report on Federal efforts to expand broadband service. Subtitle D—Direct lending Sec. 241. Direct loans to small business concerns. Title III—New Economy and Innovation Investment Sec. 301. Commission on Innovation. Sec. 302. Pilot program to fund local incubators. Sec. 303. Extension and improvement of new markets tax credit. Sec. 304. Race to the Shop. Title IV—Expanded Access to Care Sec. 401. Study on the uninsured. Sec. 402. Volunteer dental projects and action for dental health program. Sec. 403. Critical access hospital improvements. Sec. 404. Community health center collaborative access expansion.

.

222.

Producer discretion to plant additional fruits and vegetables on base acres to alleviate food deserts without a resulting reduction in payment acres

Section 1114(e) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C. 9014(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (5)

Producer discretion to plant additional fruits and vegetables to alleviate food deserts

(A)

Additional planting authority; purpose

The percentages specified in paragraphs (2) and (3) are increased by an additional five percent of base acres, to 20 percent and 40 percent respectively, if the crops referred to in paragraph (1) grown on the additional base acres are grown solely for sale or donation, directly or indirectly by the producer and with or without processing, in a food desert. (B)

Food desert defined

In this paragraph, the term food desert means a census tract that, as determined by the Secretary— (i)has a poverty rate of 20 percent or greater; and (ii)provides difficult access to a retail outlet that provides a wide-variety of fruits and vegetables..

C

Digital infrastructure

231.

GAO report on Federal efforts to expand broadband service

(a)

In general

Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report on the efficiency and effectiveness of efforts by Federal agencies to expand access to broadband service, including through the programs described in subsection (c). (b)

Included matters

The report required by subsection (a) shall include— (1)for each program covered by the report and over a period of time for such program considered appropriate by the Comptroller General, an analysis of the number of subscribers that have gained access, through or as a result of such program, to broadband service that has the capacity to transmit data to enable subscribers to originate and receive high-quality voice, data, graphics, and video; and (2)an analysis of implementation by Federal agencies of the recommendations of the Broadband Opportunity Council, established by the Presidential Memorandum entitled Expanding Broadband Deployment and Adoption by Addressing Regulatory Barriers and Encouraging Investment and Training and dated March 23, 2015. (c)

Included programs

The programs described in this subsection are the following: (1)Federal universal service support mechanisms established under section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254). (2)The Broadband Technology Opportunities Program established under section 6001 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (47 U.S.C. 1305). (3)Rural broadband loans under section 601 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb). (4)Telecommunications infrastructure loans under section 201 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 922). (5)Community Connect grants under the last proviso under the heading Distance Learning, Telemedicine, and Broadband Program in title III of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2004. (6)Distance Learning and Telemedicine grants under chapter 1 of subtitle D of title XXIII of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990. (d)

Federal agency defined

In this section, the term Federal agency has the meaning given the term agency in section 551 of title 5, United States Code.

D

Direct lending

241.

Direct loans to small business concerns

(a)

In general

From amounts appropriated pursuant to subsection (e), the Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall establish a program to make direct loans to small business concerns (as defined under section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)). (b)

Amount

Loans made under this section shall be in an amount not greater than the lesser of— (1)5 percent of the annual revenue of the small business concern requesting the loan; or (2)$250,000. (c)

Interest rate

The interest rate on a loan made under this section shall be equal to the discount window primary credit interest rate most recently published on the Federal Reserve Statistical Release on selected interest rates (daily or weekly), commonly referred to as the H.15 release. (d)

Report

The Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall submit a report to Congress on the implementation and results of the program established under this section. (e)

Authorization of appropriations

There are authorized to be appropriated $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2018 to 2022.