II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3085 

To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to improve 

the business and industry direct and guaranteed loan program of the 

Department of Agriculture. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 5, 2010 

Mr. BAUCUS 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 improve the business and industry direct and 

guaranteed loan program of the Department of Agriculture. 

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 Access to Credit 

5 Act of 2010’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY DIRECT AND GUARAN2 TEED LOANS. 

3 (a) TANGIBLE EQUITY REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

4 310B(d) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Develop5 ment Act (7 U.S.C. 1932(d)) is amended by striking para6 graph (6) and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(6) EQUITY.—In the case of direct or guaran8 teed loans under this section, the Secretary shall use 

9 commercial lending standards in determining any eq10 uity requirement.’’. 

11 (b) GENERAL TERMS.—Section 310B(g) of the Con12 solidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 

13 1932(g)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(10) GENERAL TERMS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) MAXIMUM LOAN GUARANTEE

16 AMOUNT.— 

17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 

18 any other provision of this Act, during the 

19 period beginning on the date of enactment 

20 of this paragraph and ending on December 

21 31, 2011, the Secretary shall guarantee up 

22 to 90 percent of a business and industry 

23 loan in an amount of up to $10,000,000 

24 that is a high priority project, as deter25 mined based on published criteria of the 


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1 Secretary that includes rural economic fac2 tors. 

3 ‘‘(ii) SUBSEQUENT FISCAL YEARS.— 

4 Notwithstanding any other provision of 

5 this Act, beginning on January 1, 2012, 

6 the Secretary may guarantee up to 80 or 

7 90 percent (as determined by the Sec8 retary) of a business and industry loan in 

9 an amount of up to $10,000,000 that is a 

10 high priority project, as determined based 

11 on criteria described in clause (i). 

12 ‘‘(B) LINE-OF-CREDIT LOANS.—In guaran13 teeing business and industry loans, the Sec14 retary shall guarantee line-of-credit loans in ac15 cordance with section 316(c). 

16 ‘‘(C) REFINANCING.— 

17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A business and in18 dustry loan may be used by a small busi19 ness to refinance debt in existence as of 

20 the day before the date on which the loan 

21 was made or guaranteed, if— 

22 ‘‘(I) the project for which the 

23 debt was incurred is viable and will 

24 create or save jobs, as determined by 

25 the Secretary; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) as of the date of application 

2 for refinancing— 

3 ‘‘(aa) the underlying loan 

4 has been current for at least 1 

5 year; and 

6 ‘‘(bb) the lender is providing 

7 better rates and longer terms 

8 than under the original loan. 

9 ‘‘(ii) SUBORDINATED OWNER DEBT.— 

10 Subordinated owner debt shall not be eligi11 ble for inclusion in debt described in clause 

12 (i). 

13 ‘‘(D) AUDIT STANDARDS.—Notwith14 standing any other provision of law, the Sec15 retary— 

16 ‘‘(i) shall not require audited financial 

17 statements consistent with generally ac18 cepted accounting principles for business 

19 and industry loans of less than 

20 $1,000,000; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) may waive any requirement for 

22 audited financial statements consistent 

23 with generally accepted accounting prin24 ciples for business and industry loans of at 

25 least $1,000,000. 


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1 ‘‘(E) CALCULATION OF DELINQUENCY

2 RATES.—To allow accurate comparison of delin3 quency rates among Federal agencies, in calcu4 lating the delinquency rate for business and in5 dustry loans, the Secretary shall use the cal6 culation method used by the Administrator of 

7 the Small Business Administration.’’. 

8 (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO THE RURAL

9 MICROENTREPRENEUR ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.—It is the 

10 sense of Congress that in allocating discretionary funds 

11 of the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Agri12 culture should give priority to the rural microentrepreneur 

13 assistance program established under section 379E of the 

14 Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 

15 2008s). 

16 (d) BUDGETARY EFFECTS.—The budgetary effects of 

17 this Act, for the purpose of complying with the Statutory 

18 Pay-As-You-Go-Act of 2010, shall be determined by ref19 erence to the latest statement titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects 

20 of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this Act, submitted for print21 ing in the Congressional Record by the Chairman of the 

22 Senate Budget Committee, provided that such statement 

23 has been submitted prior to the vote on passage. 

Æ 


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