[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8525 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8525

To amend the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 to provide for 
       seasonal and perishable programs, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 27, 2026

   Mr. Ruiz introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                        Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 to provide for 
       seasonal and perishable programs, 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. SEASONAL AND PERISHABLE PROGRAMS.

    The Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-
465) is amended by adding at the end the following:

              ``TITLE V--SEASONAL AND PERISHABLE PROGRAMS

``SEC. 501. SEASONAL AND PERISHABLE CROP LOSS PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Seasonal and Perishable Crop Loss.--
            ``(1) In general.--Beginning with marketing year 2027, and 
        each year thereafter, with respect to a producer of a seasonal 
        and perishable crop in a geographic region described in 
        paragraph (2), the Secretary shall make annual crop loss 
        payments in accordance with this section if the Secretary 
        determines that--
                    ``(A) the effective price for the seasonal and 
                perishable crop for such marketing year is less than 
                the reference price for such crop; and
                    ``(B) the crop loss described in subparagraph (A) 
                is caused by imports of the seasonal and perishable 
                crop.
            ``(2) Geographic coverage.--Geographic coverage described 
        in this paragraph refers to coverage of a geographic region in 
        the United States--
                    ``(A) in which a seasonable and perishable 
                commodity is grown within a seasonal marketing window; 
                and
                    ``(B) for which an annual normal harvest and 
                shipment of such seasonal and perishable crop occurs.
    ``(b) Effective Price.--The effective price for a seasonal and 
perishable crop shall be the national average market price for the 
seasonal and perishable crop during the seasonal marketing window.
    ``(c) Payment Amount.--If seasonal perishable crop loss program 
payments are required to be provided under this section for the last 
seasonal marketing window for a covered seasonal and perishable crop, 
the amount of the seasonal perishable crop loss program payment to be 
paid to producers on a farm for the seasonal marketing window shall be 
equal to the product obtained by multiplying--
            ``(1) the payment rate for the covered seasonal and 
        perishable crop which shall be equal to the difference 
        between--
                    ``(A) the reference price for the covered seasonal 
                and perishable crop; and
                    ``(B) the effective price determined under 
                subsection (b) for the seasonal and perishable crop; 
                and
            ``(2) the previous three-year average production for the 
        covered seasonal and perishable crop during the same seasonal 
        marketing window.
    ``(d) Eligibility.--A producer may only be eligible for a payment 
under this section if such producer--
            ``(1) has an average adjusted gross income of less than 
        $5,000,000 for the 3 tax years preceding the most recent tax 
        year; or
            ``(2) derives at least 75 percent of the adjusted gross 
        income of such producer from farming, ranching, or forestry for 
        the tax year for which payment under this section is sought.
    ``(e) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Seasonal marketing window.--The term `seasonal 
        marketing window' means, with respect to a seasonal and 
        perishable crop--
                    ``(A) the season of a crop year in which such crop 
                is normally marketed within a geographic region 
                described in subsection (a)(2); and
                    ``(B) the season that concludes on the date that is 
                not later than 8 weeks after the last day on which such 
                crops are harvested during a normal marketing window.
            ``(2) Reference price.--The term `reference price' means 
        the national average market price received by producers for 
        domestically produced seasonal and perishable crop for the 
        period of the most recent three marketing seasons.
            ``(3) Seasonal and perishable crop.--The term `seasonal and 
        perishable crop' means a crop that is--
                    ``(A) a fresh or chilled specialty crop that, if 
                imported, would be classified under HS2020 tariff codes 
                0701, 0702, 0703, 0704, 0705, 0706, 0707, 0708, 0709, 
                0803, 0804, 0805, 0806, 0807, 0808, 0809, or 0810 (or 
                such successor codes, as determined by the Secretary);
                    ``(B) marketed in raw form for consumption without 
                further processing; and
                    ``(C) normally marketed not later than 8 weeks 
                after harvesting.
            ``(4) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture.''.
                                 <all>