II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4071 

To establish an Office of Colonias and Farmworker Initiatives within the 

Department of Agriculture, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 22, 2024 

Mr. HEINRICH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To establish an Office of Colonias and Farmworker Initiatives within the Department of Agriculture, 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 ‘‘Office of Colonias and 

5 Farmworker Initiatives Establishment Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF COLONIAS AND FARMWORKER INITIA2 TIVES; COLONIAS AND FARMWORKER INITIA3 TIVES COORDINATING COMMITTEE. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of the Department of 

5 Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6912 

6 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 224B. OFFICE OF COLONIAS AND FARMWORKER INI8 TIATIVES. 

9 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab10 lish and maintain in the Department an Office of Colonias 

11 and Farmworker Initiatives (referred to in this section as 

12 the ‘Office’)— 

13 ‘‘(1) to improve engagement with, and service 

14 to, border colonias communities, farmworkers, and 

15 the family members and children of farmworkers; 

16 ‘‘(2) to improve collaboration between the De17 partment and national, State, and local colonias and 

18 farmworker programs and nonprofit organizations; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(3) to carry out other such functions as the 

21 Secretary determines to be appropriate. 

22 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The Office shall ensure that border 

23 colonias communities, farmworkers, the family members 

24 and children of farmworkers, and nonprofit organizations 

25 representing or assisting such communities and individVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:23 Apr 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4071.IS S4071

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1 uals have equitable access to, and equitable participation 

2 in, programs and services of the Department by— 

3 ‘‘(1) establishing and monitoring the goals and 

4 objectives of the Department to increase participa5 tion of such communities, individuals, and nonprofit 

6 organizations in Department programs; 

7 ‘‘(2) assessing the effectiveness of Department 

8 outreach programs to such communities, individuals, 

9 and nonprofit organizations; 

10 ‘‘(3) developing and implementing a plan to co11 ordinate outreach activities and services to such 

12 communities, individuals, and nonprofit organiza13 tions provided by— 

14 ‘‘(A) the Department; and 

15 ‘‘(B) other Federal agencies, including 

16 services relating to housing, education, health 

17 care, and infrastructure development; 

18 ‘‘(4) providing input to the Department and 

19 other Federal agencies on programmatic and policy 

20 decisions relating to such communities, individuals, 

21 and nonprofit organizations, including— 

22 ‘‘(A) identifying obstacles for access to 

23 programs and resources; and 

24 ‘‘(B) elevating Federal, State, and local 

25 best practices; 


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1 ‘‘(5) measuring outcomes of the programs and 

2 activities of the Department to serve such commu3 nities and individuals; 

4 ‘‘(6) recommending new initiatives and pro5 grams to the Secretary; 

6 ‘‘(7) providing technical assistance to such or7 ganizations with respect to Department programs 

8 and resources; and 

9 ‘‘(8) carrying out any other related duties that 

10 the Secretary determines to be appropriate. 

11 ‘‘(c) COLONIAS COORDINATOR.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab13 lish within the Office the position of Colonias Coor14 dinator (referred to in this subsection as the ‘Coor15 dinator’). 

16 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The Secretary shall delegate to 

17 the Coordinator responsibility for the following: 

18 ‘‘(A) Serving as a liaison to nonprofit or19 ganizations that represent and have dem20 onstrated experience serving and working in 

21 colonias communities. 

22 ‘‘(B) Coordinating with the Department, 

23 other Federal agencies, and State and local gov24 ernments to ensure that the needs of colonias 

25 communities are assessed and met, including 


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1 during declared disasters and other emer2 gencies. 

3 ‘‘(C) Consulting within the Office and with 

4 other entities to better integrate perspectives, 

5 concerns, and interest of colonias communities 

6 into the ongoing programs of the Department. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 224C. COLONIAS AND FARMWORKER INITIATIVES CO8 ORDINATING COMMITTEE. 

9 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMITTEE.—The Sec10 retary shall establish and convene a Federal coordinating 

11 committee, to be known as the ‘Colonias and Farmworker 

12 Initiatives Coordinating Committee’ (referred to in this 

13 section as the ‘Committee’), to provide advice and guid14 ance to the Secretary on matters relating to colonias and 

15 farmworker affairs. 

16 ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP AND COMPOSITION.—The Com17 mittee shall be composed of the following members: 

18 ‘‘(1) 1 representative from each of the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(A) The Department of Housing and 

21 Urban Development. 

22 ‘‘(B) The Department of the Treasury. 

23 ‘‘(C) The Environmental Protection Agen24 cy. 


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1 ‘‘(D) The Department of Health and 

2 Human Services. 

3 ‘‘(E) The Department of Education. 

4 ‘‘(F) The Small Business Administration. 

5 ‘‘(G) The Department of Labor. 

6 ‘‘(H) The Federal Emergency Management 

7 Agency. 

8 ‘‘(2) Such representatives not described in 

9 paragraph (1) as the Secretary determines to be ap10 propriate. 

11 ‘‘(c) DUTIES OF COMMITTEE.—The Committee 

12 shall— 

13 ‘‘(1) direct a working group composed of mem14 bers of the Committee (or designees of such mem15 bers) and representatives from other Federal agen16 cies and mission areas within the Department (such 

17 as the Rural Housing Service, the Rural Utilities 

18 Service, the Rural Business-Cooperative Service, the 

19 Food and Nutrition Service, and the Farm Service 

20 Agency); 

21 ‘‘(2) engage stakeholders and identify State and 

22 municipal best practices to assist colonias commu23 nities, farmworkers, and the family members and 

24 children of farmworkers; 


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1 ‘‘(3) submit to the Secretary recommendations 

2 on, and solutions to, issues raised at the local, re3 gional, or national level; and 

4 ‘‘(4) identify and propose solutions to any inter5 departmental barriers between the Department and 

6 other Federal agencies. 

7 ‘‘(d) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT EXEMP8 TION.—Section 1013 of title 5, United States Code, shall 

9 not apply to the Committee. 

10 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

11 is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

12 out this section $2,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 

13 through 2029.’’. 

14 (b) TRANSFER OF POSITION OF FARMWORKER COOR15 DINATOR.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Farmworker Coordi17 nator position established under section 226B(f) of 

18 the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act 

19 of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6934(f)) (as in effect on the day 

20 before the date of enactment of this Act) is trans21 ferred to the Office of Colonias and Farmworker Ini22 tiatives established under section 224B of the De23 partment of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 

24 (as added by subsection (a)). 


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1 (2) TRANSFER OF LEGAL PROVISIONS.—The 

2 Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 

3 1994 is amended— 

4 (A) by moving subsection (f) of section 

5 226B (7 U.S.C. 6934) so as to appear at the 

6 end of section 224B (as added by subsection 

7 (a)); and 

8 (B) by redesignating that subsection as 

9 subsection (d). 

10 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

11 (1) Section 225 of subtitle A of the Department 

12 of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 

13 6925) is redesignated as section 224A. 

14 (2) Section 296(b) of the Department of Agri15 culture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 

16 7014(b)) is amended by adding at the end the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(11) The authority of the Secretary to carry 

19 out the amendments made to this title by the Office 

20 of Colonias and Farmworker Initiatives Establish21 ment Act of 2024’’. 

Æ 


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