[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4342 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4342

To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to reauthorize 
    and expand the Rural Innovation Stronger Economy grant program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 15, 2024

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to reauthorize 
    and expand the Rural Innovation Stronger Economy grant program.

    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 Innovation Stronger Economy 
(RISE) Reauthorization Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. RURAL INNOVATION STRONGER ECONOMY GRANT PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION 
              AND EXPANSION.

    (a) In General.--Section 379I of the Consolidated Farm and Rural 
Development Act (7 U.S.C. 2008w) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A)(i)--
                                    (I) by striking ``the industry 
                                clusters that are objectively 
                                identified as''; and
                                    (II) by inserting ``industries in 
                                the area served by the partnership'' 
                                after ``declining''; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B)(ii)--
                                    (I) by striking subclause (I); and
                                    (II) by redesignating subclauses 
                                (II) through (IV) as subclauses (I) 
                                through (III), respectively;
                    (B) by striking paragraph (2); and
                    (C) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through (5) as 
                paragraphs (2) through (4), respectively;
            (2) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and 
                        (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively, and 
                        indenting the clauses appropriately;
                            (ii) in clause (ii) (as so redesignated), 
                        by striking ``opportunities, networks, and 
                        industry clusters'' and inserting 
                        ``opportunities and networks'';
                            (iii) by striking the paragraph designation 
                        and heading and all that follows through ``The 
                        Secretary'' in the matter preceding clause (i) 
                        (as so redesignated) and inserting the 
                        following:
            ``(1) Grant program.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary''; and
                            (iv) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) Targeted community types.--In carrying out 
                the grant program under this paragraph, the Secretary 
                shall--
                            ``(i) target a broad base of rural 
                        community types that will benefit from the 
                        program, with an emphasis on communities with a 
                        population of fewer than 20,000 inhabitants; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) of the total amount of grants 
                        awarded for each fiscal year, award not less 
                        than 10 percent to carry out activities that 
                        will benefit rural communities with a 
                        population of fewer than 10,000 inhabitants.''; 
                        and
                    (B) in paragraph (3)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A)--
                                    (I) by redesignating clauses (i) 
                                and (ii) as subclauses (I) and (II), 
                                respectively, and indenting the 
                                subclauses appropriately; and
                                    (II) in subclause (II) (as so 
                                redesignated), by striking ``industry 
                                cluster'';
                            (ii) by striking subparagraph (C);
                            (iii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 
                        ``industry clusters,'';
                            (iv) by redesignating subparagraphs (A), 
                        (B), (D), (E), and (F) as clauses (i), (ii), 
                        (iii), (iv), and (v), respectively, and 
                        indenting the clauses appropriately; and
                            (v) in the matter preceding clause (i) (as 
                        so redesignated), by striking ``shall 
                        consider--'' and inserting the following: 
                        ``shall--
                    ``(A) ensure that a diverse set of industry bases 
                is represented;
                    ``(B) only select an eligible entity to receive a 
                grant with the concurrence of the applicable State 
                office of the rural development mission area; and
                    ``(C) take into consideration--'';
            (3) in subsection (d)(1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A), by adding ``and'' after 
                the semicolon at the end; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (B)--
                            (i) in clause (i), by striking ``industry 
                        clusters,'';
                            (ii) in clause (vii), by striking ``small 
                        businesses in regional industry clusters, 
                        including'';
                            (iii) in clause (ix), by striking ``in the 
                        identified industry clusters''; and
                            (iv) in clause (x), by striking ``industry 
                        cluster'';
            (4) in subsection (e)(2)(B)--
                    (A) in clause (viii)--
                            (i) in subclause (I), by striking 
                        ``industry cluster'' and inserting ``activities 
                        funded with the grant''; and
                            (ii) in subclause (II), by striking ``held 
                        by the industry cluster'' and inserting 
                        ``relating to those activities convened by 
                        relevant organizations'';
                    (B) in clauses (xi) and (xii), by striking 
                ``industry cluster'' each place it appears and 
                inserting ``participating regional''; and
                    (C) in clause (xiii), by striking ``the project 
                activities'' and inserting ``activities funded with the 
                grant''; and
            (5) by striking subsection (f) and inserting the following:
    ``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section--
            ``(1) $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 
        2024; and
            ``(2) $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 
        2029.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 6306(h)(3)(B)(ii) of the 
Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (7 U.S.C. 2204b-3(h)(3)(B)(ii)) is 
amended, in the matter preceding subclause (I), by striking ``section 
379I(a)(4) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act'' and 
inserting ``section 379I(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural 
Development Act (7 U.S.C. 2008w(a))''.
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