II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4342 

To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to reauthorize 

and expand the Rural Innovation Stronger Economy grant program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 15, 2024 

Mr. WELCH (for himself and Mrs. GILLIBRAND) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development 

Act to reauthorize and expand the Rural Innovation 

Stronger Economy grant program. 

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 Innovation 

5 Stronger Economy (RISE) Reauthorization Act of 2024’’. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 4342 IS

1 SEC. 2. RURAL INNOVATION STRONGER ECONOMY GRANT 

2 PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION AND EXPAN3 SION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 379I of the Consolidated 

5 Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 2008w) is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)— 

8 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

9 (i) in subparagraph (A)(i)— 

10 (I) by striking ‘‘the industry clus11 ters that are objectively identified as’’; 

12 and 

13 (II) by inserting ‘‘industries in 

14 the area served by the partnership’’ 

15 after ‘‘declining’’; and 

16 (ii) in subparagraph (B)(ii)— 

17 (I) by striking subclause (I); and 

18 (II) by redesignating subclauses 

19 (II) through (IV) as subclauses (I) 

20 through (III), respectively; 

21 (B) by striking paragraph (2); and 

22 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (3) 

23 through (5) as paragraphs (2) through (4), re24 spectively; 

25 (2) in subsection (b)— 

26 (A) in paragraph (1)— 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 4342 IS

1 (i) by redesignating subparagraphs 

2 (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respec3 tively, and indenting the clauses appro4 priately; 

5 (ii) in clause (ii) (as so redesignated), 

6 by striking ‘‘opportunities, networks, and 

7 industry clusters’’ and inserting ‘‘opportu8 nities and networks’’; 

9 (iii) by striking the paragraph des10 ignation and heading and all that follows 

11 through ‘‘The Secretary’’ in the matter 

12 preceding clause (i) (as so redesignated) 

13 and inserting the following: 

14 ‘‘(1) GRANT PROGRAM.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’’; and 

16 (iv) by adding at the end the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(B) TARGETED COMMUNITY TYPES.—In 

19 carrying out the grant program under this 

20 paragraph, the Secretary shall— 

21 ‘‘(i) target a broad base of rural com22 munity types that will benefit from the 

23 program, with an emphasis on commu24 nities with a population of fewer than 

25 20,000 inhabitants; and 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 4342 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) of the total amount of grants 

2 awarded for each fiscal year, award not 

3 less than 10 percent to carry out activities 

4 that will benefit rural communities with a 

5 population of fewer than 10,000 inhab6 itants.’’; and 

7 (B) in paragraph (3)— 

8 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

9 (I) by redesignating clauses (i) 

10 and (ii) as subclauses (I) and (II), re11 spectively, and indenting the sub12 clauses appropriately; and 

13 (II) in subclause (II) (as so re14 designated), by striking ‘‘industry 

15 cluster’’; 

16 (ii) by striking subparagraph (C); 

17 (iii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

18 ‘‘industry clusters,’’; 

19 (iv) by redesignating subparagraphs 

20 (A), (B), (D), (E), and (F) as clauses (i), 

21 (ii), (iii), (iv), and (v), respectively, and in22 denting the clauses appropriately; and 

23 (v) in the matter preceding clause (i) 

24 (as so redesignated), by striking ‘‘shall 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 4342 IS

1 consider—’’ and inserting the following: 

2 ‘‘shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) ensure that a diverse set of industry 

4 bases is represented; 

5 ‘‘(B) only select an eligible entity to receive 

6 a grant with the concurrence of the applicable 

7 State office of the rural development mission 

8 area; and 

9 ‘‘(C) take into consideration—’’; 

10 (3) in subsection (d)(1)— 

11 (A) in subparagraph (A), by adding ‘‘and’’ 

12 after the semicolon at the end; and 

13 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 

14 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘industry 

15 clusters,’’; 

16 (ii) in clause (vii), by striking ‘‘small 

17 businesses in regional industry clusters, in18 cluding’’; 

19 (iii) in clause (ix), by striking ‘‘in the 

20 identified industry clusters’’; and 

21 (iv) in clause (x), by striking ‘‘indus22 try cluster’’; 

23 (4) in subsection (e)(2)(B)— 

24 (A) in clause (viii)— 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 4342 IS

1 (i) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘in2 dustry cluster’’ and inserting ‘‘activities 

3 funded with the grant’’; and 

4 (ii) in subclause (II), by striking ‘‘held 

5 by the industry cluster’’ and inserting ‘‘re6 lating to those activities convened by rel7 evant organizations’’; 

8 (B) in clauses (xi) and (xii), by striking 

9 ‘‘industry cluster’’ each place it appears and in10 serting ‘‘participating regional’’; and 

11 (C) in clause (xiii), by striking ‘‘the project 

12 activities’’ and inserting ‘‘activities funded with 

13 the grant’’; and 

14 (5) by striking subsection (f) and inserting the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

17 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this sec18 tion— 

19 ‘‘(1) $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 

20 through 2024; and 

21 ‘‘(2) $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 

22 through 2029.’’. 

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

24 6306(h)(3)(B)(ii) of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 

25 2018 (7 U.S.C. 2204b–3(h)(3)(B)(ii)) is amended, in the 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 4342 IS

1 matter preceding subclause (I), by striking ‘‘section 

2 379I(a)(4) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Develop3 ment Act’’ and inserting ‘‘section 379I(a) of the Consoli4 dated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 

5 2008w(a))’’. 

Æ 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS