II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4470 

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to subsidize payments on loans 

made under certain rural development loan programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 6, 2020 

Mr. TESTER (for himself, Mr. KING, Mr. ROMNEY, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. 

COONS, and Mr. PERDUE) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to subsidize payments on loans made under certain rural development 

loan programs, 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 ‘‘Rural Equal Aid Act 

5 of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SUBSIDY FOR CERTAIN RURAL DEVELOPMENT 

7 LOAN PAYMENTS. 

8 (a) DEFINITION OF COVERED LOAN.—In this sec9 tion, the term ‘‘covered loan’’ means— 


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1 (1) a community facilities guaranteed loan 

2 under section 306(a) of the Consolidated Farm and 

3 Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1926(a)); 

4 (2) a business and industry guaranteed loan 

5 under section 310B(g) of that Act (7 U.S.C. 

6 1932(g)); 

7 (3) a loan that is made by an intermediary 

8 lender to an ultimate recipient using a loan received 

9 under section 1323 of the Food Security Act of 

10 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1932 note; Public Law 99–198); and 

11 (4) a loan that is made by a microenterprise de12 velopment organization to a microentrepreneur 

13 under section 379E of the Consolidated Farm and 

14 Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 2008s). 

15 (b) PRINCIPAL AND INTEREST PAYMENTS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture 

17 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall 

18 pay the principal, interest, and any associated fees 

19 that are owed on a covered loan in a regular serv20 icing status— 

21 (A) with respect to a covered loan made 

22 before the date of enactment of this Act and 

23 not on deferment, for the 6-month period begin24 ning with the next payment due on the covered 

25 loan; 


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1 (B) with respect to a covered loan made 

2 before the date of enactment of this Act and on 

3 deferment, for the 6-month period beginning 

4 with the next payment due on the covered loan 

5 after the deferment period; and 

6 (C) with respect to a covered loan made 

7 during the period beginning on the date of en8 actment of this Act and ending on the date that 

9 is 6 months after that date of enactment, for 

10 the 6-month period beginning with the first 

11 payment due on the covered loan. 

12 (2) TIMING OF PAYMENT.—The Secretary shall 

13 begin making payments under paragraph (1) on a 

14 covered loan not later than 30 days after the date 

15 on which the first payment described in that para16 graph is due. 

17 (3) APPLICATION OF PAYMENT.—Any payment 

18 made by the Secretary under paragraph (1) shall be 

19 applied to the covered loan such that the borrower 

20 is relieved of the obligation to pay that amount. 

21 (c) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall— 

22 (1) communicate and coordinate with the Fed23 eral Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the 

24 Comptroller of the Currency, and State bank regu25 lators to encourage those entities to not require 


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1 lenders to increase their reserves on account of re2 ceiving payments made by the Secretary under sub3 section (b); 

4 (2) waive statutory limits on maximum loan 

5 maturities for any covered loan durations where the 

6 lender provides a deferral and extends the maturity 

7 of covered loans during the 1-year period following 

8 the date of enactment of this Act; and 

9 (3) when necessary to provide more time be10 cause of the potential of higher volumes, travel re11 strictions, and the inability to access some properties 

12 during the COVID–19 pandemic, extend lender site 

13 visit requirements to— 

14 (A) not more than 60 days (which may be 

15 extended at the discretion of the Secretary) 

16 after the occurrence of an adverse event, other 

17 than a payment default, causing a loan to be 

18 classified as in liquidation; and 

19 (B) not more than 90 days after a pay20 ment default. 

21 (d) EFFECT.—Nothing in this section limits the au22 thority of the Secretary to make payments pursuant to 

23 subsection (b) with respect to a covered loan solely because 

24 the covered loan has been sold in the secondary market. 


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1 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such 

3 sums as are necessary to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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