[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1297 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1297

  To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to expand 
               eligibility for Farm Service Agency loans.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 20, 2013

  Mr. Owens (for himself, Mr. Courtney, and Mr. Hanna) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to expand 
               eligibility for Farm Service Agency loans.

    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 ``Agricultural Credit Expansion Act''.

SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY FOR FARM LOANS.

    (a) Farm Ownership Loans.--Section 302(a) of the Consolidated Farm 
and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1922(a)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``(a) In General.--The'' and inserting the 
        following:
    ``(a) In General.--
            ``(1) Eligibility requirements.--The'';
            (2) in the 1st sentence, by inserting after ``limited 
        liability companies'' the following: ``, and such other legal 
        entities as the Secretary deems appropriate,'';
            (3) in the 2nd sentence, by redesignating clauses (1) 
        through (4) as clauses (A) through (D), respectively;
            (4) in each of the 2nd and 3rd sentences, by striking ``and 
        limited liability companies'' each place it appears and 
        inserting ``limited liability companies, and such other legal 
        entities''; and
            (5) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Special deeming rules.--
                    ``(A) Eligibility of certain operating-only 
                entities.--An entity that is or will become only the 
                operator of a family farm is deemed to meet the owner-
                operator requirements of paragraph (1) if the 
                individuals that are the owners of the family farm own 
                more than 50 percent (or such other percentage as the 
                Secretary determines is appropriate) of the entity.
                    ``(B) Eligibility of certain embedded entities.--An 
                entity that is an owner-operator described in paragraph 
                (1), or an operator described in subparagraph (A) of 
                this paragraph that is owned, in whole or in part, by 
                other entities, is deemed to meet the direct ownership 
                requirement imposed under paragraph (1) if at least 75 
                percent of the ownership interests of each embedded 
                entity of such entity is owned directly or indirectly 
                by the individuals that own the family farm.''.
    (b) Conservation Loans.--Section 304(c)(1) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 
1924(c)(1)) is amended by inserting after ``limited liability 
companies'' the following: ``, or such other legal entities as the 
Secretary deems appropriate,''.
    (c) Farm Operating Loans.--Section 311(a) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 
1941(a)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``(a) In General.--The'' and inserting the 
        following:
    ``(a) In General.--
            ``(1) Eligibility requirements.--The'';
            (2) in the 1st sentence, by inserting after ``limited 
        liability companies'' the following: ``, and such other legal 
        entities as the Secretary deems appropriate,'';
            (3) in the 2nd sentence, by redesignating clauses (1) 
        through (4) as clauses (A) through (D), respectively;
            (4) in each of the 2nd and 3rd sentences, by striking ``and 
        limited liability companies'' each place it appears and 
        inserting ``limited liability companies, and such other legal 
        entities''; and
            (5) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Special deeming rule.--An entity that is an operator 
        described in paragraph (1) that is owned, in whole or in part, 
        by other entities, is deemed to meet the direct ownership 
        requirement imposed under paragraph (1) if at least 75 percent 
        of the ownership interests of each embedded entity of such 
        entity is owned directly or indirectly by the individuals that 
        own the family farm.''.
    (d) Emergency Loans.--Section 321(a) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 1961(a)) 
is amended--
            (1) by striking ``owner-operators (in the case of loans for 
        a purpose under subtitle A) or operators (in the case of loans 
        for a purpose under subtitle B)'' each place it appears and 
        inserting ``(in the case of farm ownership loans in accordance 
        with subtitle A) owner-operators or operators, or (in the case 
        of loans for a purpose under subtitle B) operators'';
            (2) by inserting after ``limited liability companies'' the 
        1st place it appears the following: ``, or such other legal 
        entities as the Secretary deems appropriate'';
            (3) by inserting after ``limited liability companies'' the 
        2nd place it appears the following: ``, or other legal 
        entities'';
            (4) by striking ``and limited liability companies,'' and 
        inserting ``limited liability companies, and such other legal 
        entities'';
            (5) by striking ``ownership and operator'' and inserting 
        ``ownership or operator''; and
            (6) by adding at the end the following: ``An entity that is 
        an owner-operator or operator described in this subsection is 
        deemed to meet the direct ownership requirement imposed under 
        this subsection if the entity is owned, in whole or in part, by 
        other entities and each individual that is an owner of the 
        family farm involved has a direct or indirect ownership 
        interest in each of the other entities.''.
    (e) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Section 304(c)(2) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 1924(c)(2)) by 
        striking ``paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 302(a)'' and 
        inserting ``subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 302(a)(1)''.
            (2) Section 310D of such Act (7 U.S.C. 1934) is amended--
                    (A) by inserting after ``partnership'' the 
                following: ``, or such other legal entities as the 
                Secretary deems appropriate,''; and
                    (B) by inserting after ``partners'' the following: 
                ``, or owners,''.
            (3) Section 343(a)(11) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 1991(a)(11)) 
        is amended--
                    (A) by inserting after ``joint operation,'' the 1st 
                place it appears the following: ``or such other legal 
                entity as the Secretary deems appropriate,'';
                    (B) by striking ``or joint operators'' each place 
                it appears and inserting ``joint operators, or 
                owners''; and
                    (C) by inserting after ``joint operation,'' each 
                other place it appears the following: ``or such other 
                legal entity,''.
            (4) Section 359(c)(2) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 2006a(c)(2)) is 
        amended by striking ``section 302(a)(2) or 311(a)(2)'' and 
        inserting ``section 302(a)(1)(B) or 311(a)(1)(B)''.
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