I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8042 

To provide for agricultural economic injury disaster loans, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 14, 2020 

Mrs. HAYES (for herself and Mr. DELGADO) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to 

the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for agricultural economic injury disaster loans, 

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 ‘‘Helping America’s 

5 Farmers Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AGRICULTURAL ECONOMIC INJURY DISASTER 

7 LOAN. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 8042 IH

1 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti2 ty’’ means— 

3 (A) a producer— 

4 (i) of horticulture, nursery crops, flo5 riculture, non-specialty crops, wool, live6 stock, dairy, aquaculture, or specialty 

7 crops; or 

8 (ii) engaged in the production of food 

9 and fiber; or 

10 (B) a farmer or rancher. 

11 (2) LARGE ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term 

12 ‘‘large eligible entity’’ means an eligible entity with 

13 an adjusted gross income of greater than $500,000. 

14 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

15 the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Ad16 ministrator of the Farm Service Agency. 

17 (4) SMALL ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term 

18 ‘‘small eligible entity’’ means an eligible entity with 

19 an adjusted gross income of less than or equal to 

20 $500,000. 

21 (b) AGRICULTURAL ECONOMIC INJURY DISASTER

22 LOAN PROGRAM.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 

24 out a program to make loans under this subsection 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 8042 IH

1 to small eligible entities for the purposes described 

2 in paragraph (3). 

3 (2) TERMS OF LOANS.— 

4 (A) AMOUNT OF LOAN.—In carrying out 

5 this subsection, the Secretary shall make loans 

6 to small eligible entities in an amount less than 

7 or equal to $2,000,000. 

8 (B) INTEREST RATE.—A loan under sub9 paragraph (A) shall have an interest rate equal 

10 to zero percent. 

11 (C) REPAYMENT.—The Secretary shall es12 tablish the repayment terms with respect to 

13 each loan to a small eligible entity under this 

14 subsection, except that such repayment may 

15 not— 

16 (i) begin before the date that is 1 year 

17 after the date on which such loan is made 

18 to such small eligible entity; and 

19 (ii) be for a period of less than 10 

20 years or a period of greater than 15 years; 

21 and 

22 (D) WAIVER OF CERTAIN REQUIRE23 MENTS.—With respect to a loan made under 

24 this subsection in response to an economic dis25 aster, the Secretary shall waive— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 8042 IH

1 (i) any rules related the personal 

2 guarantee on advances and loans of not 

3 more than $200,000 for all applicants; 

4 (ii) any requirement that the small el5 igible entity exhaust other loan options be6 fore applying for a loan under this sub7 section; and 

8 (iii) any requirement that an appli9 cant needs to be in business for the 1-year 

10 period before the disaster, except that no 

11 waiver may be made for a business that 

12 was not in operation on January 31, 2020. 

13 (E) PRIORITY.—In making loans under 

14 this subsection the Secretary shall give priority 

15 to— 

16 (i) small eligible entities located in 

17 States most impacted by an economic dis18 aster, as determined by the Secretary; 

19 (ii) minority, veteran, and women 

20 farmers and ranchers; and 

21 (iii) such other small eligible entities 

22 as the Secretary determines appropriate. 

23 (3) USE OF FUNDS.—A small eligible entity 

24 that receives a loan under this subsection shall use 

25 the loan funds to— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 8042 IH

1 (A) provide paid sick leave to employees 

2 unable to work due to the direct effect of an 

3 economic disaster; 

4 (B) maintain payroll to retain employees 

5 during business disruptions or substantial slow6 downs; 

7 (C) meet increased costs to obtain mate8 rials unavailable from the applicant’s original 

9 source due to interrupted supply chains; 

10 (D) make rent or mortgage payments; 

11 (E) purchase personal protective equip12 ment; and 

13 (F) repay obligations that cannot be met 

14 due to revenue losses. 

15 (4) FORGIVENESS.—A small eligible entity shall 

16 be eligible for forgiveness of indebtedness on a loan 

17 under this subsection in an amount determined by 

18 the Secretary based on the losses of the small eligi19 ble entity— 

20 (A) due to commodity price decreases dur21 ing an economic disaster; or 

22 (B) revenue loss due to an economic dis23 aster, including from— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 8042 IH

1 (i) canceled purchasing contracts or 

2 agreements with schools, institutions, food 

3 hubs, and restaurants; 

4 (ii) loss of recurring deliveries of farm 

5 products to schools, institutions, food hubs, 

6 and restaurants; or 

7 (iii) any other unexpected source dur8 ing such economic disaster. 

9 (c) LOAN GUARANTEES.—The Secretary may guar10 antee a loan made by lenders approved by the Farm Serv11 ice Agency to large eligible entities if— 

12 (1) such loan— 

13 (A) is for the purposes described in sub14 section (b)(3); 

15 (B) is in an amount greater than 

16 $2,000,000; 

17 (C) has an interest rate equal to or less 

18 than 1 percent; and 

19 (D) has a repayment term that— 

20 (i) begins after the date that is 1 year 

21 after the date on which such loan is made 

22 an eligible entity; and 

23 (ii) is for a period of not less than 15 

24 years and not greater than 20 years; and 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 8042 IH

1 (2) the lender making such loan offers forgive2 ness of indebtedness on such loan under such terms 

3 as the Secretary determines are commensurate with 

4 the loan forgiveness under subsection (b)(4). 

5 (d) APPROVAL AND ABILITY TO REPAY FOR SMALL

6 DOLLAR LOANS.—With respect to a loan made under sub7 section (b) in response to an economic disaster, the Sec8 retary may— 

9 (1) approve an applicant based solely on the 

10 credit score of the applicant and shall not require an 

11 applicant to submit a tax return or a tax return 

12 transcript for such approval; or 

13 (2) use alternative appropriate methods to de14 termine an applicant’s ability to repay. 

15 (e) EMERGENCY GRANT.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that ap17 plies for a loan under subsection (b) or a loan guar18 antee under subsection (c) in response to an eco19 nomic disaster may request that the Secretary pro20 vide an advance that is, subject to paragraph (3), in 

21 the amount requested by such applicant to such ap22 plicant within 3 days after the Secretary receives an 

23 application from such applicant. 

24 (2) VERIFICATION.—Before disbursing amounts 

25 under this subsection, the Secretary shall verify that 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 8042 IH

1 the applicant is an eligible entity by accepting a self2 certification from the applicant under penalty of per3 jury pursuant to section 1746 of title 28 United 

4 States Code. 

5 (3) AMOUNT.—The amount of an advance pro6 vided under this subsection shall be not less than 

7 $20,000. 

8 (4) USE OF FUNDS.—An advance provided 

9 under this subsection may be used to address any al10 lowable purpose for a loan made under subsection 

11 (b) or a loan guarantee made under subsection (c). 

12 (5) REPAYMENT.—An applicant shall not be re13 quired to repay any amounts of an advance provided 

14 under this subsection, even if subsequently denied a 

15 loan under subsection (b) or a loan guarantee under 

16 subsection (c). 

17 (f) OTHER BENEFITS.—Receipt of a grant, loan, or 

18 loan guarantee under this section shall not be construed 

19 as to prohibit receipt of any Federal grant, loan, or other 

20 aid. 

21 (g) TAXABILITY.—For purposes of the Internal Rev22 enue Code of 1986— 

23 (1) any amount which would be includible in 

24 gross income of the eligible entity by reason of forVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:25 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8042.IH H8042

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 8042 IH

1 giveness described in this paragraph shall be ex2 cluded from gross income; and 

3 (2) any amount received under this section shall 

4 be excluded from gross income. 

5 (h) FUNDING.—There is hereby appropriated, out of 

6 any amounts in the Treasury not otherwise appro7 priated— 

8 (1) $6,000,000,000, to remain available until 

9 September 30, 2021, to make loans to small eligible 

10 entities under this section; 

11 (2) $6,000,000,000, to remain available until 

12 September 30, 2021, to make loan guarantees to 

13 large eligible entities under this section; 

14 (3) $4,000,000,000, to remain available until 

15 September 30, 2021, to make grants under sub16 section (e) to small eligible entities; and 

17 (4) $4,000,000,000, to remain available until 

18 September 30, 2021, to make grants under sub19 section (e) to large eligible entities. 

20 SEC. 3. TRAINING FOR LOAN SERVICERS. 

21 There is hereby appropriated, out of any amounts in 

22 the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $300,000,000, 

23 to the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a training pro24 gram to provide Farm Service Agency staff with approVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:25 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8042.IH H8042

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 8042 IH

1 priate training relating to economic injury loan processing 

2 and servicing under section 2. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS