[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3085 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3085

To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to improve the 
    business and industry direct and guaranteed loan program of the 
                       Department of Agriculture.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 5, 2010

  Mr. Baucus introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to improve the 
    business and industry direct and guaranteed loan program of the 
                       Department of Agriculture.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Rural Access to Credit Act of 
2010''.

SEC. 2. BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY DIRECT AND GUARANTEED LOANS.

    (a) Tangible Equity Requirements.--Section 310B(d) of the 
Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1932(d)) is 
amended by striking paragraph (6) and inserting the following:
            ``(6) Equity.--In the case of direct or guaranteed loans 
        under this section, the Secretary shall use commercial lending 
        standards in determining any equity requirement.''.
    (b) General Terms.--Section 310B(g) of the Consolidated Farm and 
Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1932(g)) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:
            ``(10) General terms.--
                    ``(A) Maximum loan guarantee amount.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Notwithstanding any 
                        other provision of this Act, during the period 
                        beginning on the date of enactment of this 
                        paragraph and ending on December 31, 2011, the 
                        Secretary shall guarantee up to 90 percent of a 
                        business and industry loan in an amount of up 
                        to $10,000,000 that is a high priority project, 
                        as determined based on published criteria of 
                        the Secretary that includes rural economic 
                        factors.
                            ``(ii) Subsequent fiscal years.--
                        Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
                        Act, beginning on January 1, 2012, the 
                        Secretary may guarantee up to 80 or 90 percent 
                        (as determined by the Secretary) of a business 
                        and industry loan in an amount of up to 
                        $10,000,000 that is a high priority project, as 
                        determined based on criteria described in 
                        clause (i).
                    ``(B) Line-of-credit loans.--In guaranteeing 
                business and industry loans, the Secretary shall 
                guarantee line-of-credit loans in accordance with 
                section 316(c).
                    ``(C) Refinancing.--
                            ``(i) In general.--A business and industry 
                        loan may be used by a small business to 
                        refinance debt in existence as of the day 
                        before the date on which the loan was made or 
                        guaranteed, if--
                                    ``(I) the project for which the 
                                debt was incurred is viable and will 
                                create or save jobs, as determined by 
                                the Secretary; and
                                    ``(II) as of the date of 
                                application for refinancing--
                                            ``(aa) the underlying loan 
                                        has been current for at least 1 
                                        year; and
                                            ``(bb) the lender is 
                                        providing better rates and 
                                        longer terms than under the 
                                        original loan.
                            ``(ii) Subordinated owner debt.--
                        Subordinated owner debt shall not be eligible 
                        for inclusion in debt described in clause (i).
                    ``(D) Audit standards.--Notwithstanding any other 
                provision of law, the Secretary--
                            ``(i) shall not require audited financial 
                        statements consistent with generally accepted 
                        accounting principles for business and industry 
                        loans of less than $1,000,000; and
                            ``(ii) may waive any requirement for 
                        audited financial statements consistent with 
                        generally accepted accounting principles for 
                        business and industry loans of at least 
                        $1,000,000.
                    ``(E) Calculation of delinquency rates.--To allow 
                accurate comparison of delinquency rates among Federal 
                agencies, in calculating the delinquency rate for 
                business and industry loans, the Secretary shall use 
                the calculation method used by the Administrator of the 
                Small Business Administration.''.
    (c) Sense of Congress Relating to the Rural Microentrepreneur 
Assistance Program.--It is the sense of Congress that in allocating 
discretionary funds of the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of 
Agriculture should give priority to the rural microentrepreneur 
assistance program established under section 379E of the Consolidated 
Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 2008s).
    (d) Budgetary Effects.--The budgetary effects of this Act, for the 
purpose of complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go-Act of 2010, 
shall be determined by reference to the latest statement titled 
``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation'' for this Act, submitted for 
printing in the Congressional Record by the Chairman of the Senate 
Budget Committee, provided that such statement has been submitted prior 
to the vote on passage.
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