S. 4354 — Introduced in Senate

II 116th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4354 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES July 29, 2020 Ms. Smith introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To require the Secretary of Agriculture to make recourse loans available to commercial processors of dairy products during the COVID–19 pandemic, and for other purposes. 1. Recourse loan program for commercial processors of dairy products (a) Definitions In this section: (1) COVID–19 The term COVID–19 means the disease caused by SARS–CoV–2, or any viral strain mutating therefrom with pandemic potential. (2) Eligible dairy product The term eligible dairy product means any dairy product, whether in base commodity or finished product form. (3) Qualified applicant The term qualified applicant means any commercial processor, packager, or merchandiser of eligible dairy products that is impacted by COVID–19. (4) Secretary The term Secretary means the Secretary of Agriculture. (b) Availability of loans The Secretary shall make recourse loans available to qualified applicants during the COVID–19 pandemic. (c) Amount of loans (1) In general A recourse loan made under this section shall be provided to qualified applicants up to the value of the eligible dairy product inventory of the applicant, as determined by the Secretary and consistent with subsection (d). (2) Valuation For purposes of making recourse loans under this section, the Secretary shall conduct eligible dairy product valuations to provide, to the maximum extent practicable, funds to continue the operations of qualified applicants. (d) Inventory used as collateral Eligible dairy product inventory used as collateral for the recourse loan program under this section shall be pledged on a rotating basis to prevent spoilage of perishable products. (e) Term of loans A recourse loan under this section may be made for a period as determined by the Secretary, except that no recourse loan under this section may end after the date that is 24 months after the date of enactment of this section. (f) Funding Out of any amounts in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, there is appropriated to carry out this section $500,000,000. (g) Emergency designation (1) In general The amounts provided by this Act are designated as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 4(g) of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (2 U.S.C. 933(g)). (2) Designation in Senate In the Senate, this Act is designated as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 4112(a) of H. Con. Res. 71 (115th Congress), the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018.