[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2595 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2595

 To provide standing authority and accountability for the Secretary of 
 Agriculture and senior leadership of the Department of Agriculture to 
  improve the equitable availability and distribution of services and 
  program benefits to the people of the United States, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 27, 2023

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide standing authority and accountability for the Secretary of 
 Agriculture and senior leadership of the Department of Agriculture to 
  improve the equitable availability and distribution of services and 
  program benefits to the people of the United States, 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 ``Ensuring Accountability for Equity 
at USDA Act''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act and the amendments made by this Act are--
            (1) to implement recommendations from the Department of 
        Agriculture Equity Commission; and
            (2) to emphasize and strengthen section 2501A of the Food, 
        Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 
        2279-1).

SEC. 3. TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED 
              FARMERS AND RANCHERS.

    Section 2501A of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act 
of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 2279-1) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in paragraph (3), in the paragraph heading, by 
                striking ``Report'' and inserting ``Compilation and 
                presenting of data''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (4), by striking ``the report 
                described in paragraph (3)'' and inserting the 
                following: ``a report that contains--
                    ``(A) the compiled and presented data under 
                paragraph (3);
                    ``(B) a description of trends in that data over 5- 
                and 10-year periods; and
                    ``(C) a discussion of efforts to implement 
                necessary improvements to equity identified through 
                activities under subsection (f), including metrics to 
                quantify, and timelines for implementation, of those 
                improvements.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Examination and Assessment of Programs.--In furtherance of 
the purposes of this section, the Secretary shall use data collected 
under this section to examine and assess programs and policies of the 
Department of Agriculture to identify and understand--
            ``(1) communities, organizations, groups, and individuals 
        in need of services or benefits provided under Department 
        programs; and
            ``(2) the extent to which participants benefitting from 
        funding distributed under Department programs align with the 
        communities, organizations, groups, and individuals described 
        in paragraph (1) such that the funding effectively reduces 
        disparities in access to Department programs.''.

SEC. 4. ENSURING ACCOUNTABILITY FOR EQUITY.

    (a) In General.--Subtitle A of the Department of Agriculture 
Reorganization Act of 1994 is amended by inserting after section 216 (7 
U.S.C. 6916) the following:

``SEC. 217. ENSURING ACCOUNTABILITY FOR EQUITY.

    ``(a) Performance Evaluations.--A performance evaluation of an 
individual occupying a position of the head of an agency or a senior 
executive of the Department shall include an evaluation of appropriate 
direct efforts of the individual to improve equity in the programs and 
services under the jurisdiction of the agency head or senior executive.
    ``(b) Customer Experience.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall issue uniform, 
        Department-wide guidance for each agency and office of the 
        Department relating to--
                    ``(A) collecting feedback from participants in 
                Department programs;
                    ``(B) responding to that feedback; and
                    ``(C) using that feedback to improve efforts to 
                provide more equitable and consistent services to all 
                individuals that seek service from and engage with the 
                Department.
            ``(2) Requirements.--The guidance issued under paragraph 
        (1) shall require--
                    ``(A) opportunities for participants to provide 
                feedback through multiple means, such as evaluations, 
                surveys, or such other means as the Secretary 
                determines to be appropriate;
                    ``(B) opportunities described in subparagraph (A) 
                to be advertised through means such as newspaper, 
                radio, or such other means as the Secretary determines 
                to be appropriate;
                    ``(C) opportunities described in subparagraph (A) 
                to be facilitated and advertised, and responses to 
                feedback to be provided, in multiple languages, as the 
                Secretary determines to be appropriate; and
                    ``(D) specific opportunities for participants with 
                direct involvement in a Department program to provide 
                feedback, including by providing appropriate 
                compensation to those participants for time and 
                expertise.
    ``(c) Customer Service.--
            ``(1) Training.--The Secretary shall ensure that employees 
        of the Department receive cultural competency training, as 
        appropriate for the roles of the employees.
            ``(2) Language contracts.--The Secretary shall consider, in 
        entering into contracts or cooperative agreements for language 
        translation or interpretation services, whether the needed 
        services would best be provided by a community-based 
        organization.
            ``(3) Staff knowledge of applicable programs.--
                    ``(A) Definitions.--In this paragraph:
                            ``(i) Customer.--The term `customer' means 
                        a recipient of, applicant for, or potential 
                        applicant for services or benefits under a 
                        Department program.
                            ``(ii) Frontline customer service staff.--
                        The term `frontline customer service staff' 
                        means an employee of the Department who 
                        directly interacts with customers.
                    ``(B) Capacity building.--The Secretary shall build 
                the capacity of frontline customer service staff to 
                make available to customers the services or benefits 
                for which the customers are eligible.
                    ``(C) Activities.--In carrying out subparagraph 
                (B), the Secretary may--
                            ``(i) provide to frontline customer service 
                        staff of the Department--
                                    ``(I) training and mentoring 
                                relating to customer service skillsets;
                                    ``(II) training on technical tools 
                                at the disposal of the frontline 
                                customer service staff; and
                                    ``(III) training and shareable 
                                resources relating to--
                                            ``(aa) the Department 
                                        programs for which a customer 
                                        may be eligible; and
                                            ``(bb) the technical 
                                        requirements and benefits of 
                                        those programs; and
                            ``(ii) establish a customer feedback 
                        opportunity after each interaction with the 
                        Department.
    ``(d) Notifications to Congress.--
            ``(1) Lack of authority.--If the Secretary identifies an 
        opportunity to improve equity in a particular program or 
        service but lacks authority to make the necessary changes, the 
        Secretary shall submit to Congress a notification describing--
                    ``(A) that opportunity and lack of authority; and
                    ``(B) a recommendation for a legislative change.
            ``(2) Insufficient resources.--If the Secretary identifies 
        the need for additional resources to improve equity in a 
        particular program or service, the Secretary shall submit to 
        Congress a notification that provides an explanation of the 
        needed resources.
    ``(e) Administration.--The Secretary shall carry out this section 
using funding and staff from within existing budgets and appropriations 
for the Department.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 296(b) of the Department of 
Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 7014(b)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
            ``(11) The authority of the Secretary to carry out section 
        217.''.
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