Bill > HR1063

This bill aims to establish the Farm Credit Administration (FCA) as the sole and independent regulator of the Farm Credit System, with a focus on data collection for small farmers. The bill requires Farm Credit System institutions to request loan applicants and borrowers who are small farmers (defined as farmers, ranchers, or aquatic product producers) to voluntarily disclose their race, sex, and ethnicity. These institutions must then collect, maintain, and annually report this demographic data to the FCA, which will make the aggregated information publicly available. The bill explicitly prohibits the FCA from requiring institutions to report demographic information based on visual observation or surname if a customer does not wish to voluntarily provide such data, and mandates that any reported information must protect the personally identifiable information of loan applicants and borrowers. The bill also includes a conforming amendment to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to exclude FCA-supervised entities from certain reporting requirements and provides a contingency clause that would nullify the bill's new reporting requirements if certain existing financial institution reporting rules are invalidated or repealed.

Agriculture and Natural Resources

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1063/all-info