I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7883 

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 

JULY 30, 2020 

Mr. PANETTA (for himself and Mr. LONG) 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 3 months after the 

3 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agri4 culture, acting through the Administrator of the Agricul5 tural Marketing Service, shall establish a program under 

6 which the Secretary will award grants to States or State 

7 departments of agriculture for the purposes of providing 

8 support to agricultural fairs for losses sustained by such 

9 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 month 

14 occurring in 2019 compared to the corresponding month 

15 in 2020. 

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

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

18 of agriculture shall agree— 

19 (1) to prioritize supporting agricultural fairs in 

20 the State facing the greatest financial hardship; and 

21 (2) to use not more than one percent of grant 

22 funds for administrative costs incurred in providing 

23 support to agricultural fairs. 

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

25 of agriculture selected to receive a grant under this section 


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1 may only use grant funds to assist agricultural fairs 

2 that— 

3 (1) host annual events that are drivers and pro4 moters of agribusiness in the State (as determined 

5 by the State); and 

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

7 cancellation of a local, county or State fair oper8 ations as a direct or indirect result of— 

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

10 (B) any associated actions taken by any 

11 governmental authority at the Federal, State, 

12 county, or municipal level in response to that 

13 national emergency; and 

14 (3) agree to, and demonstrate the intent to, re15 establish a fair within 12 months of the termination 

16 of the declaration specified in subsection (f)(2). 

17 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

18 authorized to be appropriated to make grants under this 

19 section $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2020, each suc20 ceeding fiscal year occurring during the COVID–19 na21 tional emergency, and the first fiscal year immediately fol22 lowing the termination of such national emergency. 

23 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) AGRICULTURAL FAIR.—The term ‘‘agricul2 tural fair’’ means a local, county, or State fair that 

3 helps farmers— 

4 (A) promote their products; 

5 (B) expand agricultural markets through 

6 conservation programs, agricultural research, 

7 educational programs, or other events that en8 courage agriculture, horticulture, and the do9 mestic 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— 

17 (A) a State; 

18 (B) the District of Columbia; 

19 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 

20 and 

21 (D) any other territory or possession of the 

22 United States. 

23 (4) STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.— 

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


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1 the agency, commission, or department of a State 

2 government responsible for agriculture in the State. 

Æ 


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