[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3270 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3270

     To amend the Federal Crop Insurance Reform and Department of 
Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to establish a budgetary Tribal 
 Government consultation process at the Department of Agriculture, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            November 9, 2023

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend the Federal Crop Insurance Reform and Department of 
Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to establish a budgetary Tribal 
 Government consultation process at the Department of Agriculture, 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 Economic-development 
Assistance and Consultation to Help Our Tribes Act'' or the ``REACH Our 
Tribes Act''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHING A BUDGETARY TRIBAL GOVERNMENT CONSULTATION PROCESS 
              AT THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

    (a) In General.--Section 309 of the Federal Crop Insurance Reform 
and Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 
6921) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Budgetary Tribal Government Consultation Process.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        the enactment of the Rural Economic-development Assistance and 
        Consultation to Help Our Tribes Act, the Secretary, in 
        consultation with the Office of Tribal Relations and the Office 
        of Budget and Program Analysis of the Department of 
        Agriculture, shall establish, finalize, and implement a formal 
        process for consultation with Tribal Governments on at least an 
        annual basis, on--
                    ``(A) annual budget requests; and
                    ``(B) bills proposing the reauthorization of 
                certain Department of Agriculture programs over a 
                period of multiple years with budgetary impacts, 
                including bills providing for the reauthorization of 
                Department of Agriculture programs (commonly known as 
                farm bills).
            ``(2) Notice.--The consultation process under paragraph (1) 
        shall require the Secretary to provide notice to Tribal 
        Governments of a consultation not later than 30 days before the 
        date on which such consultation is to occur.
            ``(3) Reporting.--The Secretary, in consultation with 
        Tribal Governments, shall develop and implement a mechanism for 
        reporting on any consultation that occurs pursuant to paragraph 
        (1). Such a report shall include--
                    ``(A) a summary of issues consulted on;
                    ``(B) comments received during that consultation 
                from Tribal Governments; and
                    ``(C) if applicable, steps taken, or to be taken, 
                by the Secretary in response to such consultation.
            ``(4) Scope.--The consultation process under paragraph (1) 
        shall not be limited only to programs that are specific to 
        Indian Tribes, but may include programs that may impact Indian 
        Tribes and Tribal entities.
            ``(5) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this subsection 
        shall be construed as limiting the Secretary from--
                    ``(A) conducting other consultations with Tribal 
                Governments or other entities, as specified under 
                another provision of Federal law; or
                    ``(B) advancing other practices to conduct such 
                consultations.''.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 12 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall submit to the 
Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a 
report on--
            (1) how the Secretary developed the Tribal Government 
        consultation process under subsection (c) of section 309 of the 
        Federal Crop Insurance Reform and Department of Agriculture 
        Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6921), as added by 
        subsection (a) of this section; and
            (2) a detailed description of the consultation process so 
        developed.

SEC. 3. REQUIRING DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE TO REPORT PROGRAM FUNDING 
              TO TRIBAL ENTITIES.

    Section 309 of the Federal Crop Insurance Reform and Department of 
Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6921), as amended by 
section 2, is further amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Program Funding Reporting.--The Secretary and the Office of 
Tribal Relations shall, in consultation with Tribal Governments, 
establish a plan for analyzing and publicly reporting to Tribal 
entities on funding provided through programs administered by the 
Secretary for which such entities are eligible to apply. In conducting 
such analysis, the Secretary shall identify ways to improve assistance 
provided through such programs to Tribal entities, including through 
conducting additional outreach to provide technical assistance for such 
programs that are underutilized by Tribal entities.''.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS RELATING TO TRIBES.

    Section 309 of the Federal Crop Insurance Reform and Department of 
Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6921), as amended by 
section 2, is further amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Definitions.--
            ``(1) In general.--In this section:
                    ``(A) The term `1994 Institution' has the meaning 
                given such term in section 532 of the Equity in 
                Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 
                note).
                    ``(B) The term `Secretary' means the Secretary of 
                Agriculture.
                    ``(C) The term `Tribal entity' means an Indian 
                Tribe, Tribal organization, Tribal Government, 1994 
                Institution, Urban Indian organization, tribally-owned 
                or tribally-controlled business or non-profit 
                organization, an arm or instrumentality of one or more 
                Indian Tribes, or a business or nonprofit organization 
                owned or controlled by one or more members of an Indian 
                Tribe.
                    ``(D) The term `Tribal Government' means the 
                governing body of any Indian or Alaska Native Tribe, 
                band, nation, pueblo, village, community, component 
                band or component reservation, individually identified 
                (including parenthetically) in the list published most 
                recently as of the date of enactment of this subsection 
                pursuant to section 104 of the Federally Recognized 
                Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131).
                    ``(E) The term `Tribal organization' has the 
                meaning given such term in section 4 of the Indian 
                Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 
                U.S.C. 5304).
                    ``(F) The term `Urban Indian organization' has the 
                meaning given such term in section 4 of the Indian 
                Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1603).
            ``(2) Indian tribe.--For purposes of subsection (c), the 
        term `Indian Tribe' has the meaning given such term in section 
        102 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 
        (25 U.S.C. 5130).''.

SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with 
the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the Assistant 
Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development, shall establish an 
interagency task force--
            (1) to review guidance and application requirements for 
        economic development programs administered by the Secretary of 
        Agriculture; and
            (2) to develop interagency agreements to reduce 
        administrative and planning burdens for applicants to such 
        programs and the Federal agencies administering such programs.
    (b) Composition.--The interagency task force established under 
subsection (a) shall be composed of the following:
            (1) The Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development of the 
        Department of Agriculture (or their designee).
            (2) The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic 
        Development (or their designee).
            (3) The Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community 
        Planning and Development of the Department of Housing and Urban 
        Development (or their designee).
            (4) Such other individuals or officials as determined 
        appropriate by the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation 
        with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the 
        Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development.
    (c) Duties.--The task force established under subsection (a) 
shall--
            (1) in developing the agreements under subsection (a), 
        identify opportunities for the Secretary of Agriculture, the 
        Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and the Assistant 
        Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development--
                    (A) to align strategic planning requirements, 
                stakeholder engagement requirements, and other 
                application requirements; and
                    (B) to issue joint guidance across programs of each 
                such agency; and
            (2) establish a plan for regularly reviewing and updating 
        interagency agreements entered into pursuant to subsection (a) 
        to ensure that such agreements--
                    (A) advance shared economic development objectives;
                    (B) reduce applicant administrative and planning 
                burdens;
                    (C) reduce technical assistance needs;
                    (D) reduce duplication in agency efforts;
                    (E) improve collaboration across Federal, State, 
                and local agencies; and
                    (F) encourage and improve stakeholder and community 
                engagement.

SEC. 6. ESTABLISHING A COMPREHENSIVE REPOSITORY OF FEDERAL TRIBAL 
              ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with 
the Office of Native American Business Development, shall establish and 
implement a working group to develop, and regularly update, a 
comprehensive and public repository of Federal economic development 
programs available to Tribal entities (as defined in subsection (e) of 
section 309 of the Federal Crop Insurance Reform and Department of 
Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6921), as added by 
section 4) to--
            (1) reduce agency and applicant administrative burden in 
        identifying Tribal economic development programs;
            (2) improve awareness and utilization of Tribal economic 
        development programs; and
            (3) improve the ability of the Office of Native American 
        Business Development to assist Tribal entities.
    (b) Composition.--The working group established under subsection 
(a) shall be composed of representatives of--
            (1) the Office of Native American Business Development;
            (2) the Economic Development Administration;
            (3) the Small Business Administration;
            (4) the Department of Agriculture;
            (5) the Department of Education;
            (6) the Department of Health and Human Services;
            (7) the Department of Housing and Urban Development;
            (8) the Department of the Interior; and
            (9) such other Federal offices or agencies, as determined 
        appropriate by the Secretary of Commerce.
    (c) Duties.--The working group established under subsection (a) 
shall--
            (1) identify economic development programs across Federal 
        agencies for which Tribal entities are eligible to participate 
        or receive assistance;
            (2) establish a comprehensive publicly accessible 
        repository of information on such programs;
            (3) develop and execute a plan for sharing such repository 
        with Federal, State, and local agencies and Tribal entities; 
        and
            (4) develop and execute a plan for regularly reviewing and 
        updating such repository once at least every 2 years.
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