[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4018 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4018

To amend the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act 
    of 1998 to establish an educational program to improve the risk 
              management skills of agricultural producers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 16, 2000

 Mr. Nethercutt (for himself and Mr. Latham) introduced the following 
        bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act 
    of 1998 to establish an educational program to improve the risk 
              management skills of agricultural producers.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. IMPROVED RISK MANAGEMENT EDUCATION.

    Title IV of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education 
Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7621 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new section:

``SEC. 409. IMPROVED RISK MANAGEMENT EDUCATION FOR AGRICULTURAL 
              PRODUCERS.

    ``(a) Program Required.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall carry 
out a program to improve the risk management skills of agricultural 
producers, including the owners and operators of small farms, limited 
resource producers, and other targeted audiences, to make informed risk 
management decisions. The program is designed to assist producers to 
develop the skills necessary--
            ``(1) to understand the financial health and capability of 
        the producer's operation to withstand price fluctuations, 
        adverse weather, environmental impacts, diseases, family 
        crises, and other risks;
            ``(2) to understand marketing alternatives, how various 
        commodity markets work, the use of crop insurance products, and 
        the price risk inherent in various markets; and
            ``(3) to understand legal, governmental, environmental, and 
        human resource issues that impact the producer's operation.
    ``(b) Coordinating Centers.--
            ``(1) Establishment and purpose.--The Secretary shall 
        establish a Risk Management Education Coordinating Center in 
        each of five regions of the United States to administer and 
        coordinate the provision of risk management education to 
        producers and their families under the program in that region.
            ``(2) Site selection.--The Secretary shall locate the 
        Center for a region at an existing risk management education 
        coordinating office of the Cooperative State Research, 
        Education, and Extension Service or at an appropriate 
        alternative land-grant college in the region approved by the 
        Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service. 
        To be selected as the location for a Center, a land-grant 
        college must have the demonstrated capability and capacity to 
        carry out the program priorities, funding distribution, and 
        reporting requirements of the program.
    ``(c) Coordinating Council.--Each Center shall establish a 
coordinating council to assist in establishing the funding and program 
priorities for that region. The council shall consist of a minimum of 
five members, including representatives from the following sources:
            ``(1) Public organizations.
            ``(2) Private organizations.
            ``(3) Agricultural producers.
            ``(4) The Regional Service Offices of the Risk Management 
        Agency in that region.
    ``(d) Center Activities.--
            ``(1) Instruction for risk management professionals.--Each 
        Center shall coordinate the offering of intensive risk 
        management instructional programs, involving classroom, distant 
        learning, and field training work, for professionals who work 
        with agricultural producers. These professionals include--
                    ``(A) extension specialists;
                    ``(B) county extension faculty;
                    ``(C) private service providers; and
                    ``(D) other individuals who are involved in 
                providing risk management education.
            ``(2) Education programs for producers.--Each Center shall 
        coordinate the provision of educational programs, including 
        workshops, short courses, seminars, and distant-learning 
        modules, to improve the risk management skills of agricultural 
        producers and their families.
            ``(3) Development and dissemination of materials.--Each 
        Center shall coordinate the efforts to develop new risk 
        management education materials and the dissemination of such 
        materials.
            ``(4) Coordination of resources.--Each Center shall make 
        use of available and emerging risk management information, 
        materials, and delivery systems, after careful evaluation of 
        the content and suitability of the information, materials, and 
        delivery systems for producers and their families. The Centers 
        shall use available expertise from land-grant colleges, 
        nongovernmental organizations, government agencies, and the 
        private sector to assist in conducting this evaluation.
    ``(e) Grants.--
            ``(1) Special grants.--Each Center shall reserve a portion 
        of the funds provided under this section to make special grants 
        to land-grant colleges and private entities in the region to 
        conduct one or more of the activities described in subsection 
        (d).
            ``(2) Competitive grants.--Each Center shall also reserve a 
        portion of the funds provided under this section to conduct a 
        competitive grant program to award grants to both public and 
        private entities that have a demonstrated capability to conduct 
        one or more of the activities described in subsection (d).
    ``(f) National Agriculture Risk Education Library.--The National 
Agriculture Risk Education Library is a central focus for the 
coordination and distribution of risk management educational materials. 
The Library shall serve as a means for the electronic delivery of risk 
management information and materials.
    ``(g) Funding Provisions.--
            ``(1) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
        to be appropriated $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 and each 
        subsequent fiscal year to carry out this section.
            ``(2) Distribution.--Funds appropriated to carry out this 
        section for a fiscal year shall be equally distributed among 
        the Centers, except that 2.5 percent of such funds shall be 
        distributed to the National Agriculture Risk Education Library. 
        The land-grant college at which a Center is located shall be 
        responsible for administering and disbursing such funds, in 
        accordance with applicable State and Federal financial 
        guidelines, for activities authorized by this section.
            ``(3) Prohibition on construction.--Centers shall be 
        located in existing facilities. Funds provided under this 
        section to a Center or as a grant under subsection (e) may not 
        be used to carry out facility construction.
    ``(h) Evaluation.--The Secretary, acting through the Cooperative 
State Research, Education, and Extension Service, shall evaluate the 
activities of the Centers to determine whether the risk management 
skills of agricultural producers and their families are improved as a 
result of their participation in educational activities financed using 
funds appropriated pursuant to the authorization of appropriations in 
subsection (g).
    ``(i) Land-Grant College Defined.--In this section, the term `land-
grant college' means any 1862 Institution, 1890 Institution, or 1994 
Institution.''.
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