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<bill bill-stage="Introduced-in-House" dms-id="HEDE1AC7745DE4C12A65EDF4CB6C13C2A" public-private="public" key="H" bill-type="olc"><metadata xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">
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<dc:title>118 HR 4804 IH: Insuring Fairness for Family Farmers Act of 2023</dc:title>
<dc:publisher>U.S. House of Representatives</dc:publisher>
<dc:date>2023-07-20</dc:date>
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<dc:language>EN</dc:language>
<dc:rights>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.</dc:rights>
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<distribution-code display="yes">I</distribution-code><congress display="yes">118th CONGRESS</congress><session display="yes">1st Session</session><legis-num display="yes">H. R. 4804</legis-num><current-chamber>IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES</current-chamber><action display="yes"><action-date date="20230720">July 20, 2023</action-date><action-desc><sponsor name-id="S001226">Ms. Salinas</sponsor> (for herself and <cosponsor name-id="B000574">Mr. Blumenauer</cosponsor>) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the <committee-name committee-id="HAG00">Committee on Agriculture</committee-name></action-desc></action><legis-type>A BILL</legis-type><official-title display="yes">To require the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation to revise the terms of the Standard Reinsurance Agreement and the Livestock Price Reinsurance Agreement, and for other purposes.</official-title></form><legis-body id="HDD352C30EF474CA8BEA962C55A375178" style="OLC"><section id="HCDD5605426D8420182447AF2C3CE117F" section-type="section-one"><enum>1.</enum><header>Short title</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">This Act may be cited as the <quote><short-title>Insuring Fairness for Family Farmers Act of 2023</short-title></quote>.</text></section><section id="H9B42F3D9BA6B45058DDFE3EB8237560F"><enum>2.</enum><header>Terms for Standard Reinsurance Agreement and Livestock Price Reinsurance Agreement</header><subsection commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="H313DA65904824F9191310D37BA647FA4"><enum>(a)</enum><header display-inline="yes-display-inline">Definitions</header><text>In this section:</text><paragraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="H0026FA21D20C47F9B4282FCE0B3CDDEF"><enum>(1)</enum><header display-inline="yes-display-inline">A&amp;O subsidy</header><text>The term <term>A&amp;O subsidy</term> means the subsidy for administrative and operating expenses paid by the Corporation on behalf of the policyholder to the applicable approved insurance provider for eligible crop insurance contracts for additional coverage levels, in accordance with section 508(k)(4) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/7/1508">7 U.S.C. 1508(k)(4)</external-xref>). </text></paragraph><paragraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="H6A092A1B59804E2BB3D9CEDF78554BE2"><enum>(2)</enum><header display-inline="yes-display-inline">Corporation</header><text>The term <term>Corporation</term> has the meaning given the term in section 502(b) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/7/1502">7 U.S.C. 1502(b)</external-xref>).</text></paragraph><paragraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="H0FF75F0A312F485685017A27FEC2F4D2"><enum>(3)</enum><header>Secretary</header><text>The term <term>Secretary</term> means the Secretary of Agriculture.</text></paragraph></subsection><subsection commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="HDB6D4FD636B343A0BAABD6B1E4E23B17"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Renegotiation of standard reinsurance agreement and the Livestock Price Reinsurance Agreement</header><paragraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="HFC17519D364940768EC76E373B33BFCE"><enum>(1)</enum><header display-inline="yes-display-inline">In general</header><text>The Corporation shall revise the financial terms and conditions of the Standard Reinsurance Agreement and the Livestock Price Reinsurance Agreement to modify the calculation of A&amp;O subsidies—</text><subparagraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="H7AFE9401CA154D3390038085F8527C5B"><enum>(A)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">to improve the equity of the distribution of payments to crop insurance agents across farm sizes; and</text></subparagraph><subparagraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="H21A8194930EA45DE9AF25EC6C865F08F"><enum>(B)</enum><text>to improve the equity of policies sold across farm sizes.</text></subparagraph></paragraph><paragraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="HDD192AEFD2994C18A6B87C09ED687C73"><enum>(2)</enum><header>Terms</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The terms that shall be included in the revised Standard Reinsurance Agreement and Livestock Price Reinsurance Agreement under paragraph (1) are the following:</text><subparagraph id="H16FBB0B527B64D8B81CE1B75BD5113B8"><enum>(A)</enum><text>Subject to paragraph (3), there shall be a fixed minimum amount and maximum amount for the amount of A&amp;O subsidy that may be paid per insurance policyholder, and the maximum amount shall not be more than 400 percent greater than the minimum amount.</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="HD82B6A8FE435427AA890E180DC4B4898"><enum>(B)</enum><text>The amount of an A&amp;O subsidy, within the minimum and maximum amounts established under subparagraph (A), shall correspond to the complexity, for a crop insurance agent, of issuing 1 or more insurance plans for a specific policyholder—</text><clause id="HAE7473033E8E4783B54C8A7367510554"><enum>(i)</enum><text>taking into account factors including the number of crops being insured by the policyholder, the type of insurance policies being issued, the number of insurance policies or endorsements being issued, and whether the policyholder has had crop insurance previously; but</text></clause><clause id="H7BEDB917859A4D3C99B9E4B83B22975B"><enum>(ii)</enum><text>not taking into account the insurance policy premium.</text></clause></subparagraph><subparagraph id="H929838DCFC7B43429EB3A9639551B2DA"><enum>(C)</enum><clause commented="no" display-inline="yes-display-inline" id="H6C5B548E1A424EE0ACB0769C5AA1844D"><enum>(i)</enum><text>A bonus of 10 percent of the applicable A&amp;O subsidy amount shall be added to the total amount of the applicable A&amp;O subsidy, for each condition described in clause (ii) that is satisfied.</text></clause><clause indent="up1" commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="HAE01EDB2B5F74B83AEF7D93C104B18EA"><enum>(ii)</enum><text>The conditions referred to in clause (i) are the following:</text><subclause commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="HA1C282723B684C92924D49F564F035FD"><enum>(I)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The applicable farm operates less than 180 acres.</text></subclause><subclause commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="HC5C35A900EC44B3FB4DCF35324953782"><enum>(II)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The insurance policy insures at least 1 specialty crop that is not eligible for a crop-specific insurance policy in the county in which the specialty crop is grown.</text></subclause><subclause commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="H80B70E8B3C9A4C2AB0775D0FEA1FCD0C"><enum>(III)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The applicable farm is owned by a farmer who has never purchased crop insurance before.</text></subclause></clause></subparagraph></paragraph><paragraph id="HE1E29A85596347488029CC05A09A59BC"><enum>(3)</enum><header>Exceptions to minimum and maximum amounts</header><subparagraph id="HF3E7AC2F86EB43DEB34D0F407CCE3B20" commented="no"><enum>(A)</enum><header>Minimum for Standard Reinsurance agreement</header><text>In the case of the Standard Reinsurance Agreement, the Corporation may reduce the minimum amount of an A&amp;O subsidy established under paragraph (2)(A) as needed to comply with section III(a)(2)(G) of the 2024 Standard Reinsurance Agreement.</text></subparagraph><subparagraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="H5E2E1D4AF735430396B88AED36FAD57A"><enum>(B)</enum><header display-inline="yes-display-inline">Maximum</header><text>An A&amp;O subsidy amount may exceed the maximum amount established under paragraph (2)(A) if a bonus or multiple bonuses under paragraph (2)(C) are applied to the A&amp;O subsidy amount.</text></subparagraph></paragraph><paragraph id="H134810394C1D46E79593280DB0CC1ACC"><enum>(4)</enum><header>Budget</header><text>The Corporation shall ensure that the Standard Reinsurance Agreement and the Livestock Price Reinsurance Agreement renegotiated under paragraph (1) shall each, to the maximum extent practicable, be estimated as budget neutral with respect to the total amount of A&amp;O subsidy payments as compared to the total amount of such payments estimated to be made under the immediately preceding Standard Reinsurance Agreement or Livestock Price Reinsurance agreement, as applicable, if that Agreement were extended over the same period of time.</text></paragraph><paragraph id="H081D30395490499790BBC10297498682" commented="no"><enum>(5)</enum><header>Tracking data</header><text>The Administrator of the Risk Management Agency may establish a program that maintains a list of farmers that have purchased crop insurance previously to share with approved insurance providers for purposes of implementing the bonus described in paragraph (2)(C). </text></paragraph></subsection><subsection id="H63057002DE7A4451AEFF55F3FAC96ED3"><enum>(c)</enum><header>Public data</header><paragraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="H18A83BA10E894A2FB7D52EB9D0C12253"><enum>(1)</enum><header>Guidance</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The Corporation shall develop and publish the methodology used to determine the amount of an A&amp;O subsidy, within the minimum and maximum amounts established pursuant to subsection (b)(2)(A), based on the complexity of issuing an insurance policy for 1 or more farms of a policyholder.</text></paragraph><paragraph id="HDA8005E69330446FABBAC917B37443D9"><enum>(2)</enum><header>A&amp;O subsidy data</header><subparagraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="HCF6406000ED448CD987703E6B9AB8654"><enum>(A)</enum><header>In general</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The Secretary shall make publicly available, on an annual basis, A&amp;O subsidy data regarding—</text><clause id="H2749AD64F013424AB18BFCF627AEA930"><enum>(i)</enum><text>the total amount of A&amp;O subsidy payments, organized by State, commodity, insurance plan type, and practice type;</text></clause><clause id="H2D2589353F4D41139221E6AF30012060"><enum>(ii)</enum><text>the average and median A&amp;O subsidy payments per insured acre, organized by State, commodity, insurance plan type, and practice type;</text></clause><clause id="HC2B793C580284C41BABD86C763BF1271"><enum>(iii)</enum><text>the total amount of compensation paid by approved insurance providers to crop insurance agents, organized by State, commodity, insurance plan type, and practice type;</text></clause><clause id="HB94C911CEC434912AD16798971D39489"><enum>(iv)</enum><text>the average and median compensation per insured acre paid by approved insurance providers to crop insurance agents, organized by State, commodity, insurance plan type, and practice type;</text></clause><clause id="H0EEBCC91B92E49CA8573FCD8CA3BC23F"><enum>(v)</enum><text>the average and median A&amp;O subsidy payment per policyholder, organized by State, commodity, insurance plan type, and practice type; </text></clause><clause id="HBA6DC149135A443197034B968B17637E"><enum>(vi)</enum><text>the average and median A&amp;O subsidy payment per insured acre, organized by State, commodity, insurance plan type, and practice type;</text></clause><clause id="H8D903AC59AB74D4CA6D3FF173B6B4CBB"><enum>(vii)</enum><text>whether and how much total additional A&amp;O subsidies were paid due to the SnapBack program or 1 or more bonuses described in subsection (b)(2)(C), organized by State, insurance plan type, and commodity; and</text></clause><clause id="H0A1ED1A3E7494C03A9EBD07657EB49D3"><enum>(viii)</enum><text>whether A&amp;O subsidies were subject to the Standard Reinsurance Agreement or Livestock Price Reinsurance Agreement, as applicable, cap for A&amp;O subsidies, and if so, what the total amount of A&amp;O subsidy amounts would have been without the cap, organized by State, insurance plan type, and commodity.</text></clause></subparagraph><subparagraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="H255764907E084F2D9FFC8FE8FB652A0E"><enum>(B)</enum><header>Confidentiality</header><text>The data made publicly available under subparagraph (A) shall be aggregated and anonymized to protect the privacy of individuals and approved insurance providers.</text></subparagraph></paragraph></subsection><subsection id="HD842035BC91E40CB8D0172C28CE91CC7"><enum>(d)</enum><header>Data from approved insurance providers</header><text>An approved insurance provider shall annually submit data on agent compensation, by individual agent, agency, and policy, to the Secretary and the Comptroller General of the United States on request. </text></subsection><subsection id="H2D015AF6D4BA49388A5CD2D2BCC08CA0"><enum>(e)</enum><header>Study</header><text>The Administrator of the Risk Management Agency shall use data mining and other available information—</text><paragraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="H0489B054DC9144DE8AF556033ACE0615"><enum>(1)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">to analyze the impact of the changes to A&amp;O subsidy amounts required under this section on—</text><subparagraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="H807EBBC26C3547DB8B4DC31BBC1D699B"><enum>(A)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">the distribution of A&amp;O subsidy amounts across policies and farming operations; and </text></subparagraph><subparagraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="HD34306F665F04F2CA78A57740E4DDCF0"><enum>(B)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">agent and producer choices on how to insure crops; and</text></subparagraph></paragraph><paragraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="H86B718B99ED041719A49998BD24ED744"><enum>(2)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">to assess whether changes in the number of policies per farming operation and other factors indicate attempts to undermine the goal of this section to improve the equity of the distribution of A&amp;O subsidy amounts. </text></paragraph></subsection><subsection id="H2A55FE915C594E03AE3E50131FA4CA4B" commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline"><enum>(f)</enum><header>Regulations</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The Administrator of the Risk Management Agency shall promulgate regulations, if needed, to limit the attempts described in subsection (e)(2). </text></subsection></section><section commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="H2CA169EBBDE14EB0A3C64FB1849D735F"><enum>3.</enum><header>GAO report</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall make publicly available a report that—</text><paragraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="HC0364C6ABCF94C4DA6F4B575EE854A60"><enum>(1)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">assesses the structure of the Federal crop insurance program; and </text></paragraph><paragraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="H2ED1F1C615D1411C93FEAA01138CDE69"><enum>(2)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">provides recommendations on how to reform that program to best reflect generally accepted insurance and market principles. </text></paragraph></section></legis-body></bill> 

