II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2998 

To amend the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 and the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 to modify provisions relating to matching funds requirements for research and extension activities at eligible institutions 

and related reporting requirements. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 29 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 22), 2023 

Mr. BROWN (for himself and Mr. WARNOCK) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

To amend the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 and the 

Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 to modify provisions relating to matching funds requirements for research and extension activities at eligible institutions and 

related reporting requirements. 

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 ‘‘Land-Grant Research 

5 Equity and Accountability Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MATCHING FUNDS REQUIREMENT FOR RESEARCH 

2 AND EXTENSION ACTIVITIES AT ELIGIBLE IN3 STITUTIONS. 

4 (a) MODIFICATION.—Section 1449 of the Food and 

5 Agriculture Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3222d) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (b), in the matter preceding 

7 paragraph (1)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘, 1999’’ and inserting ‘‘of 

9 each fiscal year’’; and 

10 (B) by striking ‘‘fiscal year 1999’’ and in11 serting ‘‘that fiscal year’’; and 

12 (2) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(c) STATE MATCHING FUNDS REQUIREMENT.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

16 provision of this subtitle, for each fiscal year, a 

17 State shall provide to each eligible institution located 

18 in the State matching funds in an amount equal to 

19 the amounts provided to the eligible institution from 

20 non-Federal sources for that fiscal year, as described 

21 in subsection (b). 

22 ‘‘(2) ATTESTATION TO SECRETARY.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently 

24 than once each fiscal year, a State shall submit 

25 to the Secretary an attestation that describes 

26 whether the State— 


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1 ‘‘(i) plans to fulfill the matching funds 

2 requirement under paragraph (1) for that 

3 fiscal year; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) is unable to fulfill that matching 

5 funds requirement for the fiscal year. 

6 ‘‘(B) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall 

7 publish each attestation submitted under sub8 paragraph (A) on an annual basis.’’. 

9 (b) REPORTS.—Section 7116 of the Agriculture Im10 provement Act of 2018 (7 U.S.C. 2207d) is amended— 

11 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)— 

12 (A) by striking ‘‘7601)’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘7601))’’; and 

14 (B) by striking ‘‘Not later’’ and inserting 

15 the following: 

16 ‘‘(a) MATCH REPORTING.—Not later’’; and 

17 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(b) OUTREACH.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 

20 to the legislature and Governor of each State in 

21 which an 1862 Institution or 1890 Institution (as 

22 those terms are defined in section 2 of the Agricul23 tural Research, Extension, and Education Reform 

24 Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7601)) is located information 

25 relating to each matching requirement applicable to 


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1 the State under the programs referred to in para2 graphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (a). 

3 ‘‘(2) FORM.—The information under paragraph 

4 (1) shall be provided— 

5 ‘‘(A) through direct outreach; and 

6 ‘‘(B) not later than the February 1 imme7 diately preceding the date on which the award 

8 cycle under the applicable program commences. 

9 ‘‘(c) ATTESTATIONS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently than 

11 once each year, the Governor of each State described 

12 in subsection (b)(1) shall submit to the Secretary an 

13 attestation that describes whether the State— 

14 ‘‘(A) is able to fulfill each matching re15 quirement regarding which information is pro16 vided under that subsection for that year; or 

17 ‘‘(B) is unable to fulfill that matching re18 quirement for the year. 

19 ‘‘(2) REPORTS.—Not later than December 31 

20 of each calendar year, the Secretary shall submit to 

21 Congress, and make publicly available on the website 

22 of the Department of Agriculture, an annual report 

23 describing the attestations received under paragraph 

24 (1) during that calendar year.’’. 

Æ 


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