Local FARM Act of 2020
Latest action · Jul 1, 2020 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedJul 1, 2020
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Local Food Assistance and Resilient Markets Act of 2020 or the Local FARM Act of 2020
This bill addresses provisions related to programs of the Department of Agriculture (USDA), including the Specialty Block Grant Program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program), the Loan Agriculture Market Program, and the Farm Microloan Program.
USDA must provide grants to states under the Specialty Block Grant Program to procure and distribute specialty crops to needy persons at zero cost to those persons. Each grant distributed shall not exceed $2.5 million.
The Food and Nutrition Service of USDA must distribute grants to state agencies to develop tools and provide technical assistance to (1) increase the quantity of retailers that accept and redeem SNAP benefits online, and (2) expand the capacity of retailers to accept and redeem SNAP benefits online.
The bill temporarily reduces the matching funds requirement for certain nutrition programs under the Local Agriculture Market Program. Additionally, the bill expands funding under such program to include (1) providing grants to organizations that serve socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers, and (2) making payments to certain entities for COVID-19-related losses.
The bill also extends the Farm Microloan Program and temporarily waives certain eligibility requirements for the program during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Cosponsors 2
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jul 21, 2020 to Aug 6, 2020.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-OR | Jeff Merkley | Jul 21, 2020 | |
| D-NY | Kirsten E. Gillibrand | Aug 6, 2020 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jul 1, 2020Introduced in Senate
- Jul 1, 2020Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Agriculture and Food.
- Agricultural marketing and promotion
- Agricultural prices, subsidies, credit
- Agriculture and Food
- Appropriations
- Cardiovascular and respiratory health
- Community life and organization
- Department of Agriculture
- Elementary and secondary education
- Emergency medical services and trauma care
- Executive agency funding and structure
- Food assistance and relief
- Food industry and services
- Food supply, safety, and labeling
- Fruit and vegetables
- Government lending and loan guarantees
- Infectious and parasitic diseases
- Minority and disadvantaged businesses
- Nutrition and diet
- Retail and wholesale trades
- Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jul 1, 2020Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.