Farm Subsidy Transparency Act of 2021
Bill: S.1980 | Sponsor: Sen. Booker, Cory A. (D-NJ)
Policy area: Agriculture and Food

Summary:
Farm Subsidy Transparency Act of 2021
This bill requires the collection and disclosure of demographic and other information about recipients of agricultural benefits.
Specifically, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) must collect and make publicly available (1) the race and gender of individuals who directly or indirectly received or applied for certain benefits, such as grants or other funding under USDA's commodity, conservation, research, extension, and education programs; and (2) the farm or ranch acreage of the recipients of such benefits.
USDA must also collect and track the race and gender of individuals who register for the USDA service center information management system (a repository of participants in programs offered by USDA's Farm Service Agency, Natural Resource and Conservation Service, and rural development agencies).
Additionally, the Commodity Credit Corporation must collect and disclose (1) the race and gender of individuals who receive or apply for benefits from the corporation, and (2) the farm or ranch acreage of the recipients of such benefits.
The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation must collect and disclose (1) the name, race, gender, and farm or ranch acreage of individuals who receive federally subsidized insurance for crops, livestock, or forage; and (2) the premium subsidy amount for each recipient.
The bill also requires financial institutions to gather demographic information in response to loan applications for farms and ranches that are minority-owned or women-owned. (Currently, institutions must gather that information in response to loan applications from women-owned and minority-owned small businesses.)

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to track the distribution of all 
 farm subsidies by race, gender, and size of the farm operation and to 
make that information about farm subsidies available to the public, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Farm Subsidy Transparency Act of 
2021''.

SEC. 2. DATA ON RECIPIENTS OF BENEFITS UNDER AGRICULTURE IMPROVEMENT 
              ACT OF 2018.

    Subtitle G of title I of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 
(Public Law 115-334; 132 Stat. 4525) is amended by adding at the end 
the following:

``SEC. 1708. DATA ON RECIPIENTS OF BENEFITS.

    ``As soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this 
section and notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary 
shall--
            ``(1) track--
                    ``(A) the benefits provided, directly or 
                indirectly, to each individual and entity under this 
                title, title II, and title VII and the amendments made 
                by those titles, including--
                            ``(i) the race and gender of each 
                        individual directly or indirectly receiving the 
                        benefits;
                            ``(ii) the race and gender of each 
                        individual receiving the benefits through an 
                        entity and the race and gender of all 
                        individuals who comprise the entity; and
                            ``(iii) the rented, owned, or controlled 
                        acreage of the farm or ranch of each recipient 
                        of the benefits; and
                    ``(B) the race and gender of each individual who 
                applied for any benefits described in subparagraph (A) 
                and did not receive the benefits;
            ``(2) annually make publicly available on the website of 
        the Department of Agriculture the information tracked under 
        paragraph (1); and
            ``(3) annually submit to the Committee on Agriculture of 
        the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, 
        Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report describing the 
        information tracked under paragraph (1).''.

SEC. 3. DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN INFORMATION RELATING TO INDIVIDUALS AND 
              ENTITIES WITH FEDERAL CROP INSURANCE.

    (a) Authorized Disclosure.--Section 502(c) of the Federal Crop 
Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1502(c)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``paragraph (2)'' and inserting 
        ``paragraphs (2) and (5)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) Disclosure of certain information.--The prohibition 
        under paragraph (1) shall not apply to the release of 
        information under section 506(m)(4)(C).''.
    (b) Disclosure of Certain Information.--Section 506(m) of the 
Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1506(m)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (5); and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
            ``(4) Collection and release of information in the public 
        interest.--
                    ``(A) Definition of covered entity.--In this 
                paragraph, the term `covered entity' means--
                            ``(i) an individual; and
                            ``(ii)(I) an entity; and
                            ``(II) each individual that partly or 
                        wholly owns, or has a substantial beneficial 
                        interest in, that entity.
                    ``(B) Information collected.--The Corporation 
                shall, on an annual basis, collect the following 
                information:
                            ``(i) The name, race, and gender, as 
                        applicable, of each covered entity that 
                        directly or indirectly obtained a federally 
                        subsidized crop insurance, livestock, or forage 
                        policy or plan of insurance during the previous 
                        reinsurance year.
                            ``(ii) The rented, owned, or controlled 
                        acreage of the farm or ranch attributable to 
                        each covered entity described in clause (i).
                            ``(iii) The amount of premium subsidy 
                        received from the Corporation, directly or 
                        indirectly, by--
                                    ``(I) each covered entity described 
                                in clause (i); and
                                    ``(II) in the case of a covered 
                                entity described in subparagraph 
                                (A)(ii)(I), each individual receiving 
                                benefits through that entity and the 
                                name, race, and gender of that 
                                individual.
                    ``(C) Release of information.--Notwithstanding any 
                other provision of law, the Corporation shall annually 
                release to the public the information described in 
                subparagraph (B), organized by covered entity and 
                agricultural operation.''.

SEC. 4. BENEFITS UNDER THE COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION CHARTER ACT.

    Section 13 of the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act (15 
U.S.C. 714k) is amended--
            (1) in the second sentence, by striking ``In addition to 
        the annual report'' and inserting the following:
    ``(b) Quarterly Reports.--In addition to the annual report under 
subsection (a)'';
            (2) in the matter preceding subsection (b) (as so 
        designated), by striking the section designation and heading 
        and all that follows through ``The Corporation'' and inserting 
        the following:

``SEC. 13. RECORDS; REPORTS.

    ``(a) Records; Annual Report.--The Corporation''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Data on Recipients of Benefits.--The Secretary shall--
            ``(1) track--
                    ``(A) the benefits provided, directly or 
                indirectly, to each individual and entity under section 
                5, including--
                            ``(i) the race and gender of each 
                        individual directly receiving the benefits or 
                        receiving the benefits through an entity; and
                            ``(ii) the rented, owned, or controlled 
                        acreage of the farm or ranch of the recipient 
                        of the benefits; and
                    ``(B) the race and gender of each individual who 
                applied for any benefits described in subparagraph (A) 
                and did not receive the benefits;
            ``(2) annually make publicly available on the website of 
        the Department of Agriculture the information tracked under 
        paragraph (1); and
            ``(3) annually submit to the Committee on Agriculture of 
        the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, 
        Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report describing the 
        information tracked under paragraph (1).''.

SEC. 5. FARM CREDIT TRANSPARENCY.

    Section 704B of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691c-
2) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``farm or ranch,'' 
        after ``minority-owned,'';
            (2) in subsection (b), by inserting ``farm or ranch,'' 
        after ``minority-owned,'' each place that term appears;
            (3) in subsection (e)--
                    (A) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (E), by inserting 
                        ``farm or ranch,'' after ``minority-owned,''; 
                        and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (F), by inserting 
                        ``farm or ranch,'' after ``minority-owned,''; 
                        and
                    (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ``farm or 
                ranch,'' after ``minority-owned,''; and
            (4) in subsection (g)(3), by inserting ``farm or ranch,'' 
        after ``minority-owned,''.

SEC. 6. SERVICE CENTER INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.

    The Secretary of Agriculture shall collect and track the race and 
gender of any individual, or in the case of an entity, each individual 
comprising the entity, that registers on the service center information 
management system of the Department of Agriculture.
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