To amend the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 to establish a specialty crop emergency assistance framework, and for other purposes.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9884 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9884

To amend the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 to
  establish a specialty crop emergency assistance framework, and for
                            other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 22, 2026

 Mr. Vasquez (for himself and Mr. Gray) introduced the following bill;
           which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To amend the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 to
  establish a specialty crop emergency assistance framework, 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 ``Cultivating Horticultural Innovation
in Local Economies Act of 2026'' or the ``CHILE Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. SPECIALTY CROP EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE FRAMEWORK.

    (a) In General.--The Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act
of 1996 is amended by inserting after section 196 (7 U.S.C. 7333) the
following:

``SEC. 197. SPECIALTY CROP EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE FRAMEWORK.

    ``(a) Definition of Specialty Crop.--In this section, the term
`specialty crop' has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the
Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 (7 U.S.C. 1621 note; Public
Law 108-465).
    ``(b) Framework.--The Secretary shall establish a framework to
provide direct assistance to producers of specialty crops the
production of which is impacted by an adverse event (including an
economic crisis or market disruption), as determined by the Secretary,
in accordance with this section.
    ``(c) Payment Calculation.--In determining a payment calculation
for purposes of direct assistance to a producer of specialty crops
under subsection (b), the Secretary shall calculate payments based on
the product obtained by multiplying--
            ``(1) the producer's sales of specialty crops for a
        calendar year that precedes the year in which the adverse event
        described in that subsection occurred or the average of those
        sales over a set of consecutive calendar years that precedes
        the year in which that adverse event occurred, as determined by
        the Secretary; by
            ``(2) a payment factor the Secretary determines, subject to
        the availability of funds, to address losses of those specialty
        crops from that adverse event.
    ``(d) Special Rules.--Subject to subsection (e), in providing
direct assistance pursuant to this section, the Secretary shall
consider--
            ``(1) the higher value of specialty crops relative to other
        crops;
            ``(2) the greater input costs required to grow specialty
        crops relative to other crops; and
            ``(3) the diverse types of legal entities and business
        structures used by specialty crop producers.
    ``(e) Limitations.--
            ``(1) Total amount.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in
                subparagraph (B), the total amount of payments
                received, directly or indirectly, by a person or legal
                entity (except a qualified pass through entity) (as
                those terms are defined in section 1001(a) of the Food
                Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308(a))) for any crop
                year under this section may not exceed the amount
                specified in subsection (b) of section 1001 of the Food
                Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308), as adjusted
                pursuant to subsection (i) of that section.
                    ``(B) Exception.--In the case of a person or legal
                entity with an average gross income (as calculated
                under subparagraph (B) of section 1001D(b)(4) of the
                Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308-3a(b)(4))) for
                which greater than or equal to 75 percent of the
                average derives from farming, ranching, or silviculture
                activities (as defined in subparagraph (A) of that
                section)--
                            ``(i) subparagraph (A) of this paragraph
                        shall not apply; and
                            ``(ii) the total maximum amount of payments
                        received, directly or indirectly, by that
                        person or legal entity for any crop year under
                        this section shall be set by the Secretary,
                        except that amount may not be less than
                        $900,000.
            ``(2) Notification of interests; eligibility; denials.--
        Sections 1001A(a), 1001B, and 1001C of the Food Security Act of
        1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308-1(a), 1308-2, 1308-3) shall apply to a
        producer of a specialty crop under this section in the same
        manner as those sections apply to a person or legal entity with
        respect to a covered commodity, except to the extent those
        sections relate to the application of subsections (b) through
        (d) of section 1001A of that Act (7 U.S.C. 1308-1).
    ``(f) Default Structure.--The Secretary shall administer any
program to deliver direct assistance to producers of specialty crops
described in subsection (b), including any direct assistance
administered under the authority of section 5 of the Commodity Credit
Corporation Charter Act (15 U.S.C. 714c), through the framework
established under subsection (b).''.
    (b) Appropriation.--There is appropriated to the Secretary of
Agriculture, out of any amounts in the Treasury not otherwise
appropriated, $5,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2027, to remain available
until expended, to provide direct assistance to producers of specialty
crops pursuant to section 197 of the Federal Agriculture Improvement
and Reform Act of 1996 (as added by subsection (a)).
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