II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4152 

To provide for the adjustment or modification by the Secretary of Agriculture 

of loans for critical rural utility service providers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 2, 2020 

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

A BILL 

To provide for the adjustment or modification by the Secretary of Agriculture of loans for critical rural utility 

service providers, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Flexible Financing for 

5 Rural America Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LOAN ADJUSTMENTS FOR CRITICAL RURAL UTILITY 

7 SERVICE PROVIDERS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

9 date of enactment of this Act, the borrower of a qualified 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 4152 IS

1 loan described in subsection (b) may submit to the Sec2 retary of Agriculture (referred to in this section as the 

3 ‘‘Secretary’’) a request to adjust the interest rate or mod4 ify any other term of the qualified loan, which shall include 

5 a report summarizing how the adjustment or modification 

6 will assist the borrower in providing critical utility services 

7 to a rural community. 

8 (b) QUALIFIED LOAN DESCRIBED.—A qualified loan 

9 referred to in subsection (a) is a loan made or guaranteed 

10 on or before the date of enactment of this Act under— 

11 (1) section 4, 201, 305, 306, or 601 of the 

12 Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 904, 

13 922, 935, 936, 950bb); or 

14 (2) the program carried out under the matter 

15 under the heading ‘‘DISTANCE LEARNING, TELE16 MEDICINE, AND BROADBAND PROGRAM’’ in title I of 

17 division A of the American Recovery and Reinvest18 ment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–5; 123 Stat. 

19 118) (commonly known as the ‘‘Broadband Initia20 tives Program’’). 

21 (c) ADJUSTMENT OF INTEREST RATE; MODIFICA22 TION OF LOAN TERMS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—On receipt of a request 

24 made under subsection (a) with respect to a loan, 

25 the Secretary— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 4152 IS

1 (A) in the case of a request for an interest 

2 rate adjustment, shall adjust the interest rate 

3 on the loan to the cost of funds to the Depart4 ment of the Treasury, as of the date of enact5 ment of this Act, for obligations of comparable 

6 maturity to the term remaining on the out7 standing balance of the loan or other such high8 er rate as the borrower may request; and 

9 (B) in the case of a request for a modifica10 tion to a loan term other than the adjustment 

11 described in subparagraph (A), may use the au12 thorities provided in sections 2, 201, 306C and 

13 703 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 

14 U.S.C. 902, 922, 936c, 950cc–2) and section 

15 331(b)(4) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural 

16 Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1981(b)(4)) to 

17 make such other modifications to the loan 

18 terms that the Secretary determines are nec19 essary— 

20 (i) to address changes in the financial 

21 position of the borrower due to the public 

22 health emergency declared by the Secretary 

23 of Health and Human Services under sec24 tion 319 of the Public Health Service Act 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 4152 IS

1 (42 U.S.C. 247d) on January 31, 2020, 

2 with respect to COVID–19; and 

3 (ii) to promote the financial sustain4 ability of the borrower. 

5 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—An adjustment or 

6 modification under subparagraph (A) or (B), respec7 tively, of paragraph (1) shall apply beginning on the 

8 first day after the close of the period with respect 

9 to which the first payment due on the loan after the 

10 date of the request applies. 

11 (d) NO FEES OR PENALTIES.—In carrying out this 

12 section, the Secretary shall not impose or collect any fee 

13 from, or impose any penalty on, a borrower. 

14 (e) NOTICE.—Not later than 30 days after the date 

15 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall publish in 

16 the Federal Register a notice of the benefits available to 

17 borrowers under this section. 

18 (f) APPROPRIATION.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Out of any amounts in the 

20 Treasury not otherwise appropriated, there are ap21 propriated to the Secretary— 

22 (A) such sums as are necessary to carry 

23 out subsection (c)(1)(A); and 

24 (B) $300,000,000 to carry out subsection 

25 (c)(1)(B). 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 4152 IS

1 (2) AVAILABILITY.—The amounts appropriated 

2 by paragraph (1) shall remain available through De3 cember 31, 2021. 

4 (3) EMERGENCY DESIGNATION.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The amounts provided 

6 by this Act are designated as an emergency re7 quirement pursuant to section 4(g) of the Stat8 utory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (2 U.S.C. 

9 933(g)). 

10 (B) DESIGNATION IN SENATE.—In the 

11 Senate, this Act is designated as an emergency 

12 requirement pursuant to section 4112(a) of H. 

13 Con. Res. 71 (115th Congress), the concurrent 

14 resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS