I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1246
To amend the Farm Credit Act of 1971 to provide support for facilities
providing healthcare, education, child care, public safety, and other vital
services in rural areas.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY12, 2025
Mrs. F
ISCHBACH(for herself, Mr. FINSTAD, and Mr. DAVISof North Caro-
lina) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Agriculture
A BILL
To amend the Farm Credit Act of 1971 to provide support
for facilities providing healthcare, education, child care,
public safety, and other vital services in rural areas.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Investing in Rural 4
America Act of 2025’’. 5
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SEC. 2. AUTHORITY OF FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSTITU-1
TIONS TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR 2
ESSENTIAL RURAL COMMUNITY FACILITIES 3
PROJECTS. 4
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Farm Credit Act of 1971 is 5
amended by inserting after section 4.18A (12 U.S.C. 6
2206a) the following: 7
‘‘SEC. 4.18. ESSENTIAL COMMUNITY FACILITIES. 8
‘‘(a) I
NGENERAL.—A Farm Credit Bank, direct 9
lender association, or bank for cooperatives chartered 10
under this Act may, for the purpose of making available 11
capital to develop, build, maintain, improve, or provide re-12
lated equipment or other support for essential community 13
facilities in rural areas, make and participate in loans and 14
commitments, and extend other technical and financial as-15
sistance for projects for essential community facilities eli-16
gible for financing under section 306(a) of the Consoli-17
dated Farm and Rural Development Act. 18
‘‘(b) E
LIGIBILITY.—Only an entity eligible for financ-19
ing under section 306(a) of the Consolidated Farm and 20
Rural Development Act may receive financing or any other 21
assistance under subsection (a) of this section. 22
‘‘(c) L
IMITATIONS.— 23
‘‘(1) F
INANCING.—A Farm Credit System insti-24
tution described in subsection (a) shall not provide 25
financing or assistance under this section in an ag-26
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gregate amount that exceeds 15 percent of the total 1
of all outstanding loans of the institution. 2
‘‘(2) O
FFER REQUIREMENT .— 3
‘‘(A) I
N GENERAL.—A Farm Credit Sys-4
tem institution shall not provide financing or 5
assistance under this section unless the institu-6
tion— 7
‘‘(i) has offered, under reasonable 8
terms and conditions acceptable to the bor-9
rower involved, an interest in the financing 10
to at least 1 domestic lending institution 11
not referred to in subsection (a) other than 12
the Department of Agriculture; and 13
‘‘(ii) has reported the offer to the 14
Farm Credit Administration. 15
‘‘(B) R
URAL COMMUNITY BANK PRI -16
ORITY.—In offering an interest in a financing 17
to a domestic lending institution described in 18
subparagraph (A)(i), the Farm Credit System 19
institution shall give priority to community 20
banks located in the service area of the essen-21
tial community facility being financed. 22
‘‘(d) A
NNUALREPORT TOCONGRESS.—Within 1 23
year after the date of the enactment of this section and 24
annually thereafter, the Farm Credit Administration shall 25
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provide a report to the Committee on Agriculture of the 1
House of Representatives and the Committee on Agri-2
culture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate on the ac-3
tivities undertaken pursuant to this section by Farm Cred-4
it System institutions during the period covered by the re-5
port, including through partnerships between such an in-6
stitution and other lending institutions, which shall also 7
be posted on the website of the Farm Credit Administra-8
tion.’’. 9
(b) E
FFECTIVEDATE.—The amendment made by 10
subsection (a) shall take effect on October 1, 2025. 11
Æ
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