[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2447 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2447

 To reauthorize the distance learning and telemedicine grant program, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 20, 2023

 Ms. Rosen (for herself and Ms. Lummis) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, 
                        Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To reauthorize the distance learning and telemedicine grant program, 
                        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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Strengthening Telehealth and 
Education for Rural Communities Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. DISTANCE LEARNING AND TELEMEDICINE GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Use of Grants for Operating Expenses.--Section 2333 of the 
Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 
950aaa-2) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``and operation'' after 
        ``construction'';
            (2) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)(B), by adding ``and'' at the 
                end; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ``or extend'' 
                each place it appears and inserting ``extend, or 
                operate'';
            (3) in subsection (f)--
                    (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ``or'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph 
                (5); and
                    (C) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
            ``(4) operation of the programming, equipment, or 
        facilities referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2); or''; and
            (4) by striking subsection (g) and inserting the following:
    ``(g) Operating Expenses.--Not more than 15 percent of the amount 
of financial assistance provided to a recipient under this chapter may 
be used for recurring or operating expenses, including salaries or 
administrative expenses, that are reasonable and allocable to the 
project carried out by the recipient.''.
    (b) Waiver of Matching Requirement.--Section 2334 of the Food, 
Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 950aaa-3) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) Waiver of Matching Requirement.--The Secretary shall waive 
any requirement for a recipient of financial assistance under this 
chapter to provide non-Federal matching funds--
            ``(1) in a case of demonstrated need or if the matching 
        requirement would create a substantial burden, as determined by 
        the Secretary; or
            ``(2) if the recipient is a federally recognized Indian 
        Tribe.''.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 2335A of the Food, 
Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 950aaa-5) is 
amended by striking ``2019 through 2023'' and inserting ``2024 through 
2028''.
    (d) Set-Aside for Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Mental 
Health Services.--
            (1) In general.--
                    (A) Substance use disorder set-aside.--Subject to 
                subparagraph (B), for each of fiscal years 2024 through 
                2028, the Secretary of Agriculture shall make available 
                not less than 20 percent of amounts made available 
                under section 2335A of the Food, Agriculture, 
                Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 950aaa-5) 
                for financial assistance under chapter 1 of subtitle D 
                of title XXIII of that Act (7 U.S.C. 950aaa et seq.) 
                for telemedicine projects that provide substance use 
                disorder treatment services or mental health services.
                    (B) Exception.--In the case of a fiscal year for 
                which the Secretary of Agriculture determines that 
                there are not sufficient qualified applicants to 
                receive financial assistance for projects providing 
                substance use disorder treatment services or mental 
                health services to reach the 20-percent requirement 
                under subparagraph (A), the Secretary of Agriculture 
                may make available less than 20 percent of amounts made 
                available under section 2335A of the Food, Agriculture, 
                Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 950aaa-5) 
                for those services.
            (2) Conforming amendments.--Section 6101(a)(1)(A)(i) of the 
        Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-334; 132 
        Stat. 4726) is amended--
                    (A) by inserting ``for each of fiscal years 2019 
                through 2023,'' before ``the Secretary''; and
                    (B) by striking ``(7 U.S.C. 950aaa-2)'' and 
                inserting ``(7 U.S.C. 950aaa-5)''.
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