I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1609 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to require the Administrator 

of the Internal Revenue Service to verify income for purposes of determining the eligibility of persons for certain Department of Agriculture 

payments and benefits, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 19, 2009 

Mr. KIND (for himself and Mr. FLAKE) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the 

Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to require the 

Administrator of the Internal Revenue Service to verify 

income for purposes of determining the eligibility of persons for certain Department of Agriculture payments 

and benefits, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. AMENDMENTS TO REQUIRE NEW PENALTIES 

2 AND ADMINISTRATOR VERIFICATION OF ELI3 GIBILITY FOR SUBSIDY PROGRAMS. 

4 (a) ADDITION OF REPAYMENT PENALTY.—Section 

5 1001B of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308– 

6 2) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘the Secretary 

8 may for a period not to exceed 5 crop years deny the 

9 issuance of payments to the person or legal entity.’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘the Secretary shall for a period not 

11 less than 5 years, or permanently, deny the issuance 

12 of payments to the person or legal entity.’’; 

13 (2) by redesignating subsections (c) through (e) 

14 as subsections (d) through (f), respectively; and 

15 (3) after subsection (b), by inserting the fol16 lowing new subsection: 

17 ‘‘(c) REPAYMENT.—If a person or legal entity is de18 termined under subsection (d) of section 1001D to be in19 eligible for benefits or payments, the person or legal entity 

20 shall reimburse the Secretary for the full amount of any 

21 benefit or payment described in subsection (b) of such sec22 tion that the person or legal entity has already received 

23 while the person or entity was ineligible.’’. 

24 (b) ADDITION OF INCOME VERIFICATION AND EN25 FORCEMENT PROCEDURES.—Section 1001D of the Food 

26 Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308–3a) is amended by 


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1 striking subsection (d) and inserting the following new 

2 subsection: 

3 ‘‘(d) INCOME VERIFICATION AND ENFORCEMENT.— 

4 ‘‘(1) SUBMISSION TO ADMINISTRATOR.—Within 

5 30 days after receiving an application from a person 

6 or legal entity for a benefit described in subsection 

7 (b), the Secretary shall request the Administrator of 

8 the Internal Revenue Service (referred to in this 

9 subsection as the ‘Administrator’) to verify the aver10 age adjusted gross income, average adjusted gross 

11 farm income, and average adjusted gross nonfarm 

12 income of the person or legal entity. The request for 

13 verification shall include the following: 

14 ‘‘(A) The name of the person or legal enti15 ty. 

16 ‘‘(B) The social security number or em17 ployer identification number of the person or 

18 legal entity. 

19 ‘‘(C) Any other information that the Sec20 retary determines to be relevant in assisting the 

21 Administrator in verifying the average adjusted 

22 gross income, average adjusted gross farm in23 come, and average adjusted gross nonfarm in24 come of the person or legal entity. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATOR DETERMINATION AND DE2 NIAL OF BENEFITS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) ADMINISTRATOR DETERMINATION.— 

4 Not later than 30 days after the receipt of a 

5 verification request under paragraph (1) or a 

6 request of redetermination under paragraph 

7 (3), the Administrator shall— 

8 ‘‘(i) determine whether the average 

9 adjusted gross income, average adjusted 

10 gross farm income, and average adjusted 

11 gross nonfarm income of the person or 

12 legal entity is within the applicable limita13 tions established under subsection (b); and 

14 ‘‘(ii) notify the Secretary of the re15 sults of such determination. 

16 ‘‘(B) DENIAL OF BENEFITS.—Subject to 

17 paragraph (3), if the Administrator determines 

18 under subparagraph (A) that a person or legal 

19 entity does not comply with the applicable limi20 tations set forth in subsection (b), the Secretary 

21 shall deny the issuance of applicable payments 

22 and benefits specified in subsection (b) to the 

23 person or legal entity, under similar terms and 

24 conditions as described in section 1001B. 


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1 ‘‘(3) FARM SERVICE AGENCY RECONSIDERATION

2 FOR INELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) SUBMISSION OF EVIDENCE TO FARM

4 SERVICE AGENCY.—A person or legal entity 

5 subject to denial of benefits under paragraph 

6 (2) may request a reconsideration of the denial 

7 by the Farm Service Agency office serving the 

8 location in which the person or legal entity re9 sides or operates. The person or legal entity 

10 shall submit evidence, accompanied with a cer11 tification by a certified public accountant, to 

12 support the claim that the person or legal entity 

13 satisfies the income eligibility requirements 

14 under subsection (b). 

15 ‘‘(B) SUBMISSION OF EVIDENCE TO AD16 MINISTRATOR.—If the Farm Service Agency de17 termines that the claim of the person or legal 

18 entity is supported by the evidence submitted 

19 under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall 

20 submit the evidence to the Administrator for a 

21 second determination under paragraph (2)(A). 

22 ‘‘(C) TIME REQUIREMENT.—The Farm 

23 Service Agency shall make the determination in 

24 subparagraph (B) within 30 days after the date 


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1 on which the person or legal entity submits the 

2 evidence under subparagraph (A). 

3 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION ON REDETERMINATION.—A 

4 person or legal entity may not apply for more than 

5 one redetermination, as described under paragraph 

6 (3), a calendar year.’’. 

Æ 


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