[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1609 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1609

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to require the Administrator of 
     the Internal Revenue Service to verify income for purposes of 
   determining the eligibility of persons for certain Department of 
       Agriculture payments and benefits, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 19, 2009

  Mr. Kind (for himself and Mr. Flake) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to 
   the Committee on Ways and Means, 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 concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to require the Administrator of 
     the Internal Revenue Service to verify income for purposes of 
   determining the eligibility of persons for certain Department of 
       Agriculture payments and benefits, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. AMENDMENTS TO REQUIRE NEW PENALTIES AND ADMINISTRATOR 
              VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR SUBSIDY PROGRAMS.

    (a) Addition of Repayment Penalty.--Section 1001B of the Food 
Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308-2) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b), by striking ``the Secretary may for 
        a period not to exceed 5 crop years deny the issuance of 
        payments to the person or legal entity.'' and inserting ``the 
        Secretary shall for a period not less than 5 years, or 
        permanently, deny the issuance of payments to the person or 
        legal entity.'';
            (2) by redesignating subsections (c) through (e) as 
        subsections (d) through (f), respectively; and
            (3) after subsection (b), by inserting the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(c) Repayment.--If a person or legal entity is determined under 
subsection (d) of section 1001D to be ineligible for benefits or 
payments, the person or legal entity shall reimburse the Secretary for 
the full amount of any benefit or payment described in subsection (b) 
of such section that the person or legal entity has already received 
while the person or entity was ineligible.''.
    (b) Addition of Income Verification and Enforcement Procedures.--
Section 1001D of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308-3a) is 
amended by striking subsection (d) and inserting the following new 
subsection:
    ``(d) Income Verification and Enforcement.--
            ``(1) Submission to administrator.--Within 30 days after 
        receiving an application from a person or legal entity for a 
        benefit described in subsection (b), the Secretary shall 
        request the Administrator of the Internal Revenue Service 
        (referred to in this subsection as the `Administrator') to 
        verify the average adjusted gross income, average adjusted 
        gross farm income, and average adjusted gross nonfarm income of 
        the person or legal entity. The request for verification shall 
        include the following:
                    ``(A) The name of the person or legal entity.
                    ``(B) The social security number or employer 
                identification number of the person or legal entity.
                    ``(C) Any other information that the Secretary 
                determines to be relevant in assisting the 
                Administrator in verifying the average adjusted gross 
                income, average adjusted gross farm income, and average 
                adjusted gross nonfarm income of the person or legal 
                entity.
            ``(2) Administrator determination and denial of benefits.--
                    ``(A) Administrator determination.--Not later than 
                30 days after the receipt of a verification request 
                under paragraph (1) or a request of redetermination 
                under paragraph (3), the Administrator shall--
                            ``(i) determine whether the average 
                        adjusted gross income, average adjusted gross 
                        farm income, and average adjusted gross nonfarm 
                        income of the person or legal entity is within 
                        the applicable limitations established under 
                        subsection (b); and
                            ``(ii) notify the Secretary of the results 
                        of such determination.
                    ``(B) Denial of benefits.--Subject to paragraph 
                (3), if the Administrator determines under subparagraph 
                (A) that a person or legal entity does not comply with 
                the applicable limitations set forth in subsection (b), 
                the Secretary shall deny the issuance of applicable 
                payments and benefits specified in subsection (b) to 
                the person or legal entity, under similar terms and 
                conditions as described in section 1001B.
            ``(3) Farm service agency reconsideration for ineligible 
        applicants.--
                    ``(A) Submission of evidence to farm service 
                agency.--A person or legal entity subject to denial of 
                benefits under paragraph (2) may request a 
                reconsideration of the denial by the Farm Service 
                Agency office serving the location in which the person 
                or legal entity resides or operates. The person or 
                legal entity shall submit evidence, accompanied with a 
                certification by a certified public accountant, to 
                support the claim that the person or legal entity 
                satisfies the income eligibility requirements under 
                subsection (b).
                    ``(B) Submission of evidence to administrator.--If 
                the Farm Service Agency determines that the claim of 
                the person or legal entity is supported by the evidence 
                submitted under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall 
                submit the evidence to the Administrator for a second 
                determination under paragraph (2)(A).
                    ``(C) Time requirement.--The Farm Service Agency 
                shall make the determination in subparagraph (B) within 
                30 days after the date on which the person or legal 
                entity submits the evidence under subparagraph (A).
            ``(4) Limitation on redetermination.--A person or legal 
        entity may not apply for more than one redetermination, as 
        described under paragraph (3), a calendar year.''.
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