Bill Sponsor
Senate Bill 4140
116th Congress(2019-2020)
Local FARM Act of 2020
Introduced
Introduced
Introduced in Senate on Jul 1, 2020
Overview
Text
Introduced
Jul 1, 2020
Latest Action
Jul 1, 2020
Origin Chamber
Senate
Type
Bill
Bill
The primary form of legislative measure used to propose law. Depending on the chamber of origin, bills begin with a designation of either H.R. or S. Joint resolution is another form of legislative measure used to propose law.
Bill Number
4140
Congress
116
Policy Area
Agriculture and Food
Agriculture and Food
Primary focus of measure is agricultural practices; agricultural prices and marketing; agricultural education; food assistance or nutrition programs; food industry, supply, and safety; aquaculture; horticulture and plants. Measures concerning international trade in agricultural products may fall under Foreign Trade and International Finance policy area.
Sponsorship by Party
Democrat
New Jersey
Senate Votes (0)
House Votes (0)
No Senate votes have been held for this bill.
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.

Text (1)
Actions (2)
07/01/2020
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
07/01/2020
Introduced in Senate
Public Record
Record Updated
Jan 11, 2023 1:45:42 PM