I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2424 

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a program under which 

the Secretary awards grants to States or State departments of agriculture for the purposes of providing support to agricultural fairs for 

losses sustained due to COVID–19. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 8, 2021 

Mr. PANETTA (for himself, Mr. LONG, Mr. LEVIN of California, and Mr. 

NEWHOUSE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a program 

under which the Secretary awards grants to States or 

State departments of agriculture for the purposes of 

providing support to agricultural fairs for losses sustained due to COVID–19. 

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 ‘‘Agricultural Fairs Res5 cue Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AGRICULTURAL FAIR RESCUE GRANTS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than September 30, 

3 2021, the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Ad4 ministrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service, shall 

5 award a grant to each State department of agriculture (or 

6 other appropriate State agency assigned with the pro7 motion of agricultural fairs) for the purposes of providing 

8 support to eligible agricultural fairs for losses sustained 

9 by such fairs due to COVID–19. 

10 (b) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of a grant to 

11 a State or State department of agriculture under this sec12 tion shall be based on the difference between the average 

13 attendance at agricultural fairs in the State for a calendar 

14 year occurring during the 3-calendar-year period begin15 ning with calendar year 2017 (or over a shorter period, 

16 if attendance data is not available for the entire 3-cal17 endar-year period) compared to calendar year 2020. 

18 (c) CONDITIONS.—As a condition on the receipt of 

19 a grant under this section, a State or State department 

20 of agriculture shall agree— 

21 (1) to prioritize supporting eligible agricultural 

22 fairs in the State facing the greatest financial hard23 ship; and 

24 (2) to use not more than 5 percent of grant 

25 funds for administrative costs incurred in providing 

26 support to eligible agricultural fairs. 


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1 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—A State or State department 

2 of agriculture selected to receive a grant under this section 

3 may only use grant funds to assist eligible agricultural 

4 fairs that— 

5 (1) host annual events that are drivers and pro6 moters of agribusiness in the State (as determined 

7 by the State); 

8 (2) have experienced a closure, stoppage, or 

9 cancellation of a local, county or State fair oper10 ations as a direct or indirect result of— 

11 (A) the COVID–19 national emergency; or 

12 (B) any associated actions taken by any 

13 governmental authority at the Federal, State, 

14 county, or municipal level in response to that 

15 national emergency; 

16 (3) agree to, and demonstrate the intent to, re17 establish a fair within 18 months of the termination 

18 of the declaration specified in subsection (f)(2); 

19 (4) agree to use all grant funds within the 18- 

20 month period that begins on the date on which such 

21 funds are received; and 

22 (5) agree to use funds received pursuant to this 

23 section for operating capital expenses, to reimburse 

24 operating expenses paid from reserves not originally 

25 intended for operating expenses, repay indebtedness 


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1 incurred to pay operating expenses, or repay other 

2 third parties that contributed to funding operating 

3 expenses, but not for capital improvements. 

4 (e) FUNDING.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

6 appropriated to make grants under this section 

7 $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2021, each succeeding 

8 fiscal year occurring during the COVID–19 national 

9 emergency, and the first fiscal year immediately fol10 lowing the termination of such national emergency. 

11 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of the funds 

12 made available under paragraph (1) to carry out this 

13 section for a fiscal year, not more than 8 percent 

14 may be used for expenses related to administering 

15 the program under this section. 

16 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 (1) ELIGIBLE AGRICULTURAL FAIR.—The term 

18 ‘‘eligible agricultural fair’’ means a local, county, or 

19 State fair that— 

20 (A) is a subunit of a government entity, a 

21 public corporation organized and existing pur22 suant to State law, or is owned and operated as 

23 a not-for-profit organization described in sec24 tion 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 


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1 1986 and exempt from taxation under section 

2 501(a) of such Code; and 

3 (B) helps farmers, ranchers, or foresters— 

4 (i) promote their products; or 

5 (ii) expand agricultural markets 

6 through conservation programs, agricul7 tural research, educational programs, or 

8 other events that encourage agriculture, 

9 horticulture, and the domestic arts. 

10 (2) COVID–19 NATIONAL EMERGENCY.—The 

11 term ‘‘COVID–19 national emergency’’ means the 

12 national emergency declared by the President under 

13 the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et 

14 seq.) on March 13, 2020, with respect to COVID– 

15 19. 

16 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the sev17 eral States, the District of Columbia, the Common18 wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the 

19 United States Virgin Islands, and the Common20 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

21 (4) STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.— 

22 The term ‘‘State department of agriculture’’ means 

23 the agency, commission, or department of a State 

24 government responsible for agriculture in the State. 

Æ 


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