Rural Grants Transparency Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9101 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9101

   To improve transparency, accessibility, and accountability in the
administration of rural development grant programs at the Department of
                  Agriculture, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 2, 2026

  Ms. Letlow introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
                        Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

   To improve transparency, accessibility, and accountability in the
administration of rural development grant programs at the Department of
                  Agriculture, 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 ``Rural Grants Transparency Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Rural communities often lack staff capacity and
        technical expertise to navigate complex Federal grant programs.
            (2) Applicants routinely report difficulty understanding
        eligibility for, application steps for, timelines under,
        evaluation criteria under, and reasons for rejection from rural
        development programs.
            (3) Providing clear, consistent, and centralized
        information improves access to such programs for small towns,
        rural nonprofits, cooperatives, and persistent-poverty counties
        and parishes.
            (4) Increasing transparency in Federal grant processes can
        be achieved without additional appropriations.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Covered program.--The term ``covered program'' means
        any grant program administered by the Secretary of Agriculture
        through Rural Development, including programs administered by--
                    (A) the Rural Utilities Service;
                    (B) the Rural Housing Service; or
                    (C) the Rural Business-Cooperative Service.
            (2) Quarterly.--The term ``quarterly'' means not less
        frequently than once every 90 days.
            (3) Roadmap.--The term ``Roadmap'' means, with respect to a
        covered program, the Rural Grant Transparency Roadmap developed
        for the program under section 4.
            (4) Rural development state office contact information.--
        The term ``rural development State office contact information''
        means, with respect to a covered program, to the appropriate
        division or program contact within each State rural development
        office that is responsible for administering the covered
        program, and is not solely a general hotline or switchboard
        number.
            (5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
        of Agriculture.

SEC. 4. RURAL GRANT TRANSPARENCY ROADMAP.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall develop, publish, and
maintain a publicly accessible Rural Grant Transparency Roadmap for
each covered program.
    (b) Required Components.--The Roadmap for a covered program shall
include--
            (1) a plain-language description of the program;
            (2) a step-by-step explanation of application requirements;
            (3) a standardized checklist of materials required in
        applications;
            (4) in the case of a competitive program, a summary of the
        evaluation criteria used under the program;
            (5) common reasons for ineligibility for the program, or
        rejection of an application;
            (6) electronic links to forms and guidance documents;
            (7) rural development State office contact information
        relevant to the program; and
            (8) a quarterly-updated list of open and upcoming funding
        opportunities.
    (c) Format and Accessibility.--The Roadmap for a covered program
shall--
            (1) be accessible through a single, consolidated webpage on
        the Rural Development website;
            (2) be written in plain language suitable for small,
        resource-limited rural communities; and
            (3) be available in formats accessible to individuals with
        disabilities in compliance with section 508 of the
        Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
    (d) Limitations.--This Act shall not be interpreted to--
            (1) require the Secretary to create new evaluation criteria
        for any program; or
            (2) alter eligibility, priorities, or requirements
        established in statute or regulation.
    (e) Updates.--The Secretary shall update the Roadmap quarterly and
revise component descriptions as necessary.

SEC. 5. STANDARDIZED GRANT APPLICATION NOTIFICATIONS.

    (a) Requirement.--The Secretary shall provide each applicant to a
covered program with standardized notifications regarding--
            (1) confirmation of receipt of the application;
            (2) notice of completeness of, or deficiency in, the
        application;
            (3) notice of advancement of the application to review;
            (4) a grant award or a denial of an application; and
            (5) if an application is denied, information on whether the
        applicant may reapply.
    (b) Denial Explanation.--Each denial of an application submitted to
a covered program shall include--
            (1) a plain-language summary of the evaluation criteria
        most determinative to the outcome; and
            (2) guidance on how to strengthen future submissions.
    (c) Use of Existing Systems.--The Secretary shall provide
notifications under this section using existing electronic or
administrative systems, and this section shall not be interpreted to
require the development of new information technology systems.

SEC. 6. RURAL GRANT AWARD DATA ACCESSIBILITY.

    (a) Database.--The Secretary shall maintain a publicly accessible,
searchable database of awards made under a covered program, updated
quarterly, containing--
            (1) the name of the award recipient;
            (2) the county or parish in which the awarded project is
        located;
            (3) the amount of the award;
            (4) the name of the program and
            (5) a brief description of the awarded project.
    (b) Protection of Sensitive Information.--The Secretary may not
disclose, or authorize the disclosure of personally identifiable or
confidential business information under this Act.
    (c) Use of Existing Resources.--The Secretary shall utilize
existing Department of Agriculture resources to carry out this section.

SEC. 7. PUBLICATION OF SCORING CRITERIA.

    (a) Requirement.--For each competitive covered program, the
Secretary shall publish--
            (1) all scoring factors;
            (2) the weight assigned to each factor;
            (3) tie-breaker rules; and
            (4) any statutory or regulatory priority areas.
    (b) Limitation.--This Act shall not be interpreted to authorize the
Secretary to create new scoring factors or modify existing statutory
requirements.

SEC. 8. TRAINING FOR STATE AND LOCAL USDA OFFICES.

    (a) Annual Training.--The Secretary shall ensure that State,
parish, and county rural development offices receive annual training
on--
            (1) the Rural Grant Transparency Roadmap for each covered
        program;
            (2) the common challenges faced by applicants for each
        covered program; and
            (3) the procedures for providing accurate, consistent
        information to applicants for a covered program who are located
        in a rural area.
    (b) Use of Existing Resources.--This section shall be carried out
by existing personnel of the Department of Agriculture.

SEC. 9. NO ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS.

    This Act shall not be interpreted to authorize or require the
appropriation of any funds to carry out this Act.

SEC. 10. DEADLINE FOR IMPLEMENTATION.

    The Secretary shall implement all requirements of this Act within
180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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