119-hr5059

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5059 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 5059

To amend the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 to direct the 
 Secretary of Agriculture to establish a program under which the 
Secretary will award grants to eligible organizations to encourage the 
 development, maintenance, and expansion of commercial domestic market 
 for domestically produced specialty crop commodities.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 August 26, 2025

 Mr. Valadao (for himself, Mr. Harder of California, Ms. Brownley, Mr. 
 Panetta, Mr. Costa, and Mr. LaMalfa) introduced the following bill; 
 which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To amend the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 to direct the 
 Secretary of Agriculture to establish a program under which the 
Secretary will award grants to eligible organizations to encourage the 
 development, maintenance, and expansion of commercial domestic market 
 for domestically produced specialty crop commodities.

 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 ``Specialty Crop Domestic Market 
Promotion and Development Program Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. SPECIALTY CROP DOMESTIC MARKET PROMOTION AND DEVELOPMENT 
 PROGRAM.

 Title II of the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 (7 
U.S.C. 7712a et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``

SEC. 204. SPECIALTY CROP DOMESTIC MARKET PROMOTION AND DEVELOPMENT 
 PROGRAM.

 ``

    (a) In General.--For purposes of encouraging the development, 
maintenance, and expansion of the commercial domestic market for 
domestically produced specialty crop commodities, the Secretary of 
Agriculture, acting through the Administrator of the Agricultural 
Marketing Service, shall establish a program under which the Secretary 
will award grants to eligible organizations to implement a domestic 
market development program for specialty crops.
 ``

    (b) Application.--An eligible organization seeking a grant under 
this section shall submit to the Secretary--
 ``

    (1) an application at such time, in such manner, and 
 containing such information as the Secretary may require;
 ``

    (2) a marketing plan that meets the requirements of 
 subsection
            (c) ; and
 ``

    (3) a certification that any Federal funds received by 
 such organization under this section will supplement, but not 
 supplant, funds from non-Federal sources (including a private 
 entity) to carry out a domestic market development program for 
 specialty crops.
 ``
            (c) Marketing Plan.--
 ``

    (1) In general.--A marketing plan submitted under 
 subsection

    (b) shall--
 ``
        (A) describe the advertising or other demand-
 oriented, generic domestic promotion activities to be 
 carried out by the eligible organization using funds 
 awarded through a grant under this section; and
 ``
        (B) contain--
 ``
            (i) a description of the manner in which 
 funds received by the eligible organization 
 through a grant under this section, in 
 conjunction with funds and services provided by 
 the eligible organization, will be expended in 
 implementing the marketing plan;
 ``
            (ii) the market goals to be achieved 
 under the marketing plan; and
 ``
            (iii) such additional information as may 
 be required by the Secretary.
 ``

    (2) Amendments.--A marketing plan approved under this 
 section may be amended by the eligible organization submitting 
 such plan at any time, subject to the approval of the 
 Secretary.
 ``
            (d) Amount of Grant.--
 ``

    (1) In general.--The Secretary shall justify, in writing, 
 the level of funds awarded through a grant to an eligible 
 organization and the level of matching funds to be required of 
 the organization.
 ``

    (2) Matching funds.--The recipient of a grant under this 
 section shall provide non-Federal matching funds equal to not 
 less than 25 percent of the amount of the grant, or such other 
 amount determined by the Secretary pursuant to paragraph

    (1) .
 ``

    (3) In-kind support.--Non-Federal matching funds 
 described in paragraph

    (2) may include in-kind support.
 ``

    (e) Multiyear Basis.--The Secretary may provide assistance under 
this section on a multiyear basis. The Secretary shall conduct an 
annual review of any grant awarded on a multiyear basis to ensure that 
the eligible organization has complied with the marketing plan 
submitted under subsection
            (c) .
 ``

    (f) Termination.--The Secretary may terminate any grant made, or 
to be made, under this section if the Secretary determines that the 
eligible organization receiving such grant--
 ``

    (1) is not adhering to the terms and conditions 
 applicable to the grant;
 ``

    (2) is not implementing the marketing plan submitted 
 under subsection

    (b) or is not adequately meeting the 
 established goals of the plan; or
 ``

    (3) is not adequately contributing its own resources to 
 the implementation of the plan.
 ``

    (g) Evaluations.--Beginning not later than 15 months after the 
first grant is awarded under this section to an eligible organization, 
the Secretary shall monitor the expenditures by eligible organizations 
made using grant funds, including the following:
 ``

    (1) A thorough accounting of such expenditures.
 ``

    (2) An evaluation of the effectiveness of the marketing 
 plan of the eligible organization in developing, maintaining, 
 or expanding the commercial domestic market for specialty 
 crops.
 ``

    (h) Limitation on Use of Funds.--Funds received through a grant 
under this section may not be used--
 ``

    (1) to provide direct assistance to any domestic or 
 foreign for-profit corporation for the corporation's use in 
 promoting foreign-produced products; or
 ``

    (2) to provide direct assistance to any for-profit 
 corporation that is not recognized as a small business concern 
 (as described in 

section 3

    (a) of the Small Business Act (15 
 U.S.C. 632

    (a) )), other than--
 ``
        (A) a cooperative;
 ``
        (B) an association described in the Act of 
 February 18, 1922 (7 U.S.C. 291); or
 ``
            (C) a nonprofit trade association.
 ``
            (i) Audits.--If, as a result of an evaluation or audit of 
activities of an eligible organization using funds made available 
through a grant under this section, the Secretary determines that a 
further review is justified in order to ensure compliance with the 
requirements of this section, the Secretary shall require the eligible 
organization to contract for an independent audit of the activities 
carried out using funds awarded under a grant under this section, 
including activities of any subcontractor of an eligible organization.
 ``

    (j) Eligible Organization Defined.--In this section, the term 
`eligible organization' means--
 ``

    (1) a United States agricultural trade organization or 
 regional State-related organization that promotes the sale of 
 United States produced and grown specialty crops and that does 
 not profit directly from specific sales of United States 
 specialty crops;
 ``

    (2) a cooperative organization or State agency that 
 promotes the sale of United States produced and grown specialty 
 crops;
 ``

    (3) a private organization that promotes the sale of 
 United States produced and grown specialty crop commodities if 
 the Secretary determines that such organization would 
 significantly contribute to increased domestic purchases of 
 United States produced specialty crop commodities; or
 ``

    (4) a specialty crop organization operating under Federal 
 marketing orders.
 ``

    (k) Funding.--
 ``

    (1) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
 to be appropriated to carry out this section $75,000,000 for 
 fiscal year 2026 and each fiscal year thereafter.
 ``

    (2) Administrative expenses.--The Secretary may use funds 
 made available under paragraph

    (1) to carry out this section 
 for a fiscal year for expenses related to administering the 
 program under this section.''.
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