Bill Details
View committees (2)
View cosponsors (14)
- Rep. Panetta, Jimmy [D-California-19]
- Rep. Miller, Mary E. [R-Illinois-15]
- Rep. Baird, James R. [R-Indiana-4]
- Rep. Fischbach, Michelle [R-Minnesota-7]
- Rep. Moolenaar, John R. [R-Michigan-2]
- Rep. Self, Keith [R-Texas-3]
- Rep. Stauber, Pete [R-Minnesota-8]
- Rep. Huizenga, Bill [R-Michigan-4]
- Rep. Bergman, Jack [R-Michigan-1]
- Rep. Gray, Adam [D-California-13]
- Rep. Vindman, Eugene Simon [D-Virginia-7]
- Rep. Bresnahan, Robert P. [R-Pennsylvania-8]
- Rep. Barr, Andy [R-Kentucky-6]
- Rep. Schmidt, Derek [R-Kansas-2]
AI Summary This summary was generated by AI from the bill text. AI can get information wrong.
This bill would make clear that the Farm Credit Administration is the only independent regulator for the Farm Credit System. It would also require lenders in that system to ask small-farmer loan applicants and borrowers to voluntarily share information about race, sex, and ethnicity, then keep that information and report it to the Farm Credit Administration each year. The agency would then make the collected data public in a yearly report, while protecting the privacy of individual borrowers. The bill also says lenders cannot be forced to guess or assign this information if a customer does not want to provide it.
- It adds a new rule for collecting demographic data from small farmers, ranchers, and aquatic პროდუქcers who apply for or receive loans from Farm Credit System institutions.
- Farm Credit System lenders would have to request the information, keep records of it, and send it to the Farm Credit Administration every year.
- The Farm Credit Administration would publish the data yearly, but it could not include anything that would identify a specific borrower.
- The data-collection rule would start only for applications received and loans made at least one year after the law takes effect.
The bill also changes another credit law so that a certain rule does not apply to entities supervised by the Farm Credit Administration. In addition, if a related federal data-collection rule for other financial institutions is struck down by a court or repealed, then Farm Credit System institutions would no longer have to follow this bill’s new reporting rule either.
Official Summaries
Farm Credit Administration Independent Authority Act
This bill specifies that the Farm Credit Administration (FCA) is the sole regulator of the Farm Credit System (FCS) and establishes reporting requirements for FCS institutions (i.e., lenders).
Specifically, the bill states that the FCA is the sole and independent regulator of the FCS and exempts entities that are supervised by the FCA from the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA).
As background, the bill addresses a rule issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that implements provisions of the ECOA by requiring covered financial institutions, including FCS institutions, to collect and report to the CFPB data on credit applications for small businesses, including the principal owner's race, sex, and ethnicity. This 2023 rule has been challenged in court.
The bill also requires FCS institutions to (1) request that loan applicants and borrowers that are small farmers disclose information identifying their race, sex, and ethnicity; and (2) annually report the collected information to the FCA. The FCA must make the collected information available to the public on annual basis. If an FCS institution customer does not voluntarily report the requested information, the FCA may not require the institution to use other means to deduce the information.
In addition, the bill specifies that FCS institutions shall not be required to comply with the bill's requirements if financial institutions are not required to comply with the CFPB rule due to a court invalidating the rule or a repeal of the rule.
Current Full Text
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1063 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1063
To affirm that the Farm Credit Administration is the sole and
independent regulator of the Farm Credit System.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 6, 2025
Mr. Finstad (for himself, Mr. Panetta, Mrs. Miller of Illinois, Mr.
Baird, Mrs. Fischbach, and Mr. Moolenaar) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in
addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To affirm that the Farm Credit Administration is the sole and
independent regulator of the Farm Credit System.
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 Credit Administration
Independent Authority Act''.
SEC. 2. FARMER LOAN DATA COLLECTION.
(a) In General.--The Farm Credit Act of 1971 (12 U.S.C. 2001 et
seq.) is amended by inserting after section 4.19 the following:
``SEC. 4.20. SMALL FARMER LOAN DATA COLLECTION.
``(a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to affirm that the
Farm Credit Administration is the sole and independent regulator of the
Farm Credit System.
``(b) Definition.--In this section, the term `small farmer' means a
`small farmer, rancher, or producer or harvester of aquatic products'
as defined pursuant to section 4.19.
``(c) Collection of Demographic Data by Farm Credit System
Lenders.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, Farm Credit
System institutions, pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Farm
Credit Administration, shall--
``(1) request that loan applicants and borrowers that are
small farmers disclose information identifying their race, sex,
and ethnicity;
``(2) collect and maintain the information resulting from
the requests; and
``(3) report to the Farm Credit Administration on an annual
basis the information collected pursuant to the requests.
``(d) Directions to the Farm Credit Administration.--The Farm
Credit Administration--
``(1) shall collect the information gathered by Farm Credit
System institutions under this section and make the information
available to the public on an annual basis; and
``(2) shall not require, in prescribing regulations to
implement this section, that any Farm Credit System institution
contradict the wishes of a customer who does not wish to
voluntarily report race, sex, or ethnicity by requiring the
Farm Credit System institution to report the race, sex, or
ethnicity of the customer based on visual observation, surname,
or any other method.
``(e) Protection of Personally Identifiable Information.--In
reporting the information collected under this section, the Farm Credit
Administration shall not include any information that would reveal the
identify of any loan applicant or borrower.
``(f) Effective Date.--This section shall apply only to
applications received and loans made 1 year or more after the date of
the enactment of this section.''.
SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENT.
Section 704B(h)(1) of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C.
1691c-2(h)(1)) is amended by inserting ``, other than any entity that
is supervised by the Farm Credit Administration'' before the period at
the end.
SEC. 4. CESSATION OF COMPLIANCE.
If financial institutions subject to subpart B of part 1002 of
title 12, Code of Federal Regulations, are not required to comply with
the rule promulgated pursuant to that subpart, whether because a court
invalidates the rule or the rule is otherwise repealed, the Farm Credit
System institutions shall not be required to comply with any regulation
promulgated pursuant to the amendments made by this Act.
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