119-s231

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 231 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 231

 To amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to authorize the Federal Crop 
Insurance Corporation to carry out research and development on a single 
 index insurance policy, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 January 23, 2025

 Mr. Welch (for himself, Ms. Warren, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Murphy, Mr. 
 Padilla, Mr. Sanders, and Mr. Van Hollen) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
 Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to authorize the Federal Crop 
Insurance Corporation to carry out research and development on a single 
 index insurance policy, and for other purposes.

 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 ``Withstanding Extreme Agricultural 
Threats by Harvesting Economic Resilience Act of 2025'' or the 
``WEATHER Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. SINGLE INDEX INSURANCE POLICY.

    (a) In General.--

Section 522
            (c) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act 
(7 U.S.C. 1522
            (c) ) is amended by adding at the end the following:
 ``

    (20) Single index insurance 

=== policy ===
-
 ``
        (A) === Definitions. ===
-In this paragraph:
 ``
            (i) Covered crop or commodity.--The term 
 `covered crop or commodity' means any crop or 
 commodity (including a specialty crop) on a 
 farm except timber, forest products, animals 
 for sport or show, and pets.
 ``
            (ii) Covered 

=== policy ===
-The term `covered 
 policy' means the single index insurance policy 
 described in subparagraph
        (B)
            (i) .
 ``
            (iii) Covered weather condition.--
 ``
            (I) In general.--The term 
 `covered weather condition' means any 
 of the following weather conditions 
 that are found to be closely correlated 
 with agricultural income losses:
 ``

    (aa) High winds.
 ``

    (bb) Excessive moisture 
 and flooding.
 ``
            (cc) Extreme heat.
 ``
            (dd) Abnormal freeze 
 conditions.
 ``

    (ee) Wildfire.
 ``

    (ff) Hail.
 ``

    (gg) Drought.
 ``

    (hh) Any other severe 
 weather or growing conditions 
 applicable to small-scale 
 farmers, as determined by the 
 Secretary.
 ``
            (II) Data.--The existence of a 
 weather condition described in 
 subclause
            (I) shall be determined by 
 indices that prioritize using data from 
 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
 Administration, as available, but may 
 use other federally or State certified 
 weather data sources, public and 
 private satellite data, and weather and 
 climate data and models, if necessary, 
 as determined by the Secretary.
 ``
        (B) === Policy ===
-
 ``
            (i) In general.--The Corporation shall 
 carry out research and development, or offer to 
 enter into 1 or more contracts with 1 or more 
 qualified persons to carry out research and 
 development, to develop a single index policy 
 to insure against agricultural income losses 
 due to 1 or more covered weather conditions.
 ``
            (ii) Coverage.--Research and development 
 on the covered policy under clause
            (i) shall 
 require that coverage is available in all 50 
 States (including Indian Tribes), the District 
 of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the 
 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 
 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Virgin 
 Islands of the United States.
 ``
            (iii) Option to buy-up or buy-down.--
 ``
            (I) In general.--Research and 
 development on the covered policy under 
 clause
            (i) shall consider permitting a 
 holder of the covered policy to elect 
 to buy-up to 150 percent, subject to 
 subclause
            (II) , or buy-down to 5 
 percent, of the median county-level 
 adjusted gross income for farms, in 5-
 percent increments, to reflect the 
 income of the individual farm business 
 of the holder insured under the covered 
 policy.
 ``
            (II) Limitation.--A holder of a 
 covered policy may buy-up under 
 subclause
            (I) only if the farms of the 
 holder insured under the covered policy 
 have at least 3 covered crops or 
 commodities.
 ``
            (iv) Priority features of 

=== policy ===
-In 
 carrying out research and development on the 
 covered policy under clause
            (i) , the following 
 features may be given priority:
 ``
            (I) Agricultural income losses 
 under the covered policy include--
 ``

    (aa) losses for all 
 covered crops or commodities; 
 and
 ``

    (bb) losses to the value 
 of packing, packaging, or any 
 other similar on-farm activity 
 that the Corporation determines 
 necessary to remove a covered 
 crop or commodity from the 
 field.
 ``
            (II) Payments are made under the 
 covered policy not later than 30 days 
 after the occurrence of a covered 
 weather condition in the county in 
 which the applicable farm of the farmer 
 is located or an adjacent county.
 ``
            (III) Provision of seasonal 
 coverage periods.
 ``
            (IV) Provision of special 
 consideration to concerns facing 
 individual farm businesses--
 ``

    (aa) that have less than 
 $350,000 in adjusted gross 
 income; and
 ``

    (bb) with respect to 
 which a farmer is an 
 underserved producer (as 
 defined in 

section 508

    (a)

    (7)
        (A) ).
 ``
            (V) Paperwork requirements are 
 reduced for farmers seeking to obtain a 
 covered policy.
 ``
            (v) Consultation.--In carrying out 
 research and development on the covered policy 
 under clause
            (i) , the Corporation--
 ``
            (I) shall hold stakeholder 
 meetings to solicit producer and agent 
 feedback; and
 ``
            (II) may consult with licensed 
 actuaries with experience developing 
 index policies insuring agricultural 
 production.
 ``
            (C) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date 
 of enactment of this paragraph, the Corporation shall 
 make publicly available a report that describes--
 ``
            (i) the results of the research and 
 development carried out under this paragraph; 
 and
 ``
            (ii) recommendations to Congress with 
 respect to those results, including--
 ``
            (I) any challenges to developing 
 the covered policy; and
 ``
            (II) options to address those 
 challenges.''.

    (b) Technical Amendment.--

Section 531

    (a)

    (18) of the Federal Crop 
Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1531

    (a)

    (18) ) is amended by striking ``

section 2501

    (e) of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 
(7 U.S.C. 2279

    (e) )'' and inserting ``

section 2501

    (a) of the Food, 
Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 2279

    (a) ).''.
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