[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2996 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2996

To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to extend and 
 enhance the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program, and for other 
                               purposes.


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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

           September 29 (legislative day, September 22), 2023

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

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                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to extend and 
 enhance the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance 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 ``Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance 
Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. INCREASE IN FUNDING FOR THE RURAL MICROENTREPRENEUR ASSISTANCE 
              PROGRAM.

    Section 379E of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 
U.S.C. 2008s) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(4), by striking ``$50,000'' and 
        inserting ``$75,000'';
            (2) in subsection (b)(3), by adding at the end the 
        following:
                    ``(E) Use of funds.--A microloan made by a 
                microenterprise development organization to a 
                microentrepreneur under this paragraph for a project 
                may be used to cover not more than 50 percent of any 
                demolition, construction, or related costs of real 
                estate improvements under the project.'';
            (3) in subsection (c)(1)(A), by striking ``75 percent'' and 
        inserting ``100 percent''; and
            (4) in subsection (d), by striking ``2019 through 2023'' 
        and inserting ``2024 through 2028''.
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