Rep. Ashley Hinson

Promoting Agriculture Safeguards and Security Act of 2022 or the PASS Act of 2022 This bill places the Secretary of Agriculture on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). Further, the bill requires CFIUS to review certain agriculture-related transactions, including those related to biotechnology. The bill also prohibits persons who are acting on behalf of a prohibited country (i.e., China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea) from carrying out any merger, acquisition, or takeover that could result in foreign control of a U.S. agricultural company.

Student Loan Accountability Act This bill generally prohibits the Departments of Education, Justice, or the Treasury from taking any action to cancel or forgive the outstanding balances, or portion of balances, of covered loans. Covered loans refer to Federal Family Education Loans, Federal Direct Loans, Federal Perkins Loans, and loans under the Health Education Assistance Loan Program. The prohibition does not apply to targeted federal student loan forgiveness, cancellation, or repayment programs that are in effect by final regulation on March 12, 2020, and carried out under the Higher Education Act of 1965.

Keeping Incarceration Discharges Streamlined for Children and Accommodating Resources in Education Act or the KIDS CARE Act This bill requires states to ensure eligible incarcerated juveniles are given health screenings and appropriate referrals under Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in coordination with their release. It also allows state Medicaid programs to cover juveniles who are pretrial detainees. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services must also issue guidance on (1) ways to reduce administrative barriers for schools and school-based health centers to obtain reimbursement under Medicaid and CHIP; (2) how to expand mental, emotional, and behavioral health services under Medicaid; (3) existing Medicaid flexibilities to support children in crisis through more intensive services; and (4) strategies to increase access to telehealth services under Medicaid and CHIP.

Student Loan Accountability Act This bill generally prohibits the Departments of Education, Justice, or the Treasury from taking any action to cancel or forgive the outstanding balances, or portion of balances, of covered loans. Covered loans refer to Federal Family Education Loans, Federal Direct Loans, Federal Perkins Loans, and loans under the Health Education Assistance Loan Program. The prohibition does not apply to targeted federal student loan forgiveness, cancellation, or repayment programs that are in effect by final regulation on March 12, 2020, and carried out under the Higher Education Act of 1965.

This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish within USDA an Agricultural and Food System Supply Chain Resilience and Crisis Response Task Force. Among other responsibilities, the task force must (1) help promote the leadership of the United States with respect to the stability of the agriculture and food system supply chain; (2) monitor the resilience, diversity, security, and strength of the supply chain; and (3) support the creation of jobs with competitive wages in the U.S. agricultural and food system sector. The head of the task force must be the Special Advisor on Supply Chain Resilience and Crisis Response who must conduct an evaluation of the stability and reliability of the agriculture and food system supply chain and report to Congress on the evaluation.

Military Spouse Hiring Act This bill expands the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) to include the hiring of a qualified military spouse. (The WOTC permits employers who hire individuals who are members of a targeted group such as qualified veterans, ex-felons, or long-term unemployment recipients to claim a tax credit equal to a portion of the wages paid to those individuals.) A qualified military spouse is any individual who is certified by the designated local agency as being (as of the hiring date) a spouse of a member of the Armed Forces.

This resolution supports the designation of National CASA/GAL Volunteers Day to commend the work of court-appointed special advocate (CASA) and guardian ad litem (GAL) volunteers.

Producing Responsible Energy and Conservation Incentives and Solutions for the Environment Act or the PRECISE Act This bill incorporates support for precision agriculture into various programs of the Department of Agriculture (USDA). Precision agriculture refers to an information- and technology-based management system used to identify, analyze, and manage variability in agricultural production for optimum profitability, sustainability, and environmental protection. Specifically, the bill makes changes to eligibility criteria, administrative procedures, and other aspects of the Conservation Loan Program, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, and the Conservation Stewardship Program. These changes include allowing the programs to support the adoption of precision agriculture practices and acquisition of precision agriculture technologies. In addition, the bill expands a program through which USDA makes and insures loans to for-profit and nonprofit organizations that invest in rural areas by allowing the loans to be used for precision agriculture practices. The bill also requires USDA to emphasize the use of third-party providers with respect to technical assistance on matters related to soil health for participants in certain USDA conservation programs.

Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act of 2022 This bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to take various actions to address transparency in contract terms and pricing in the cattle industry. Among these requirements, USDA must maintain a publicly available library or catalog of contracts entered into between meat packers and livestock producers for the purchase of cattle, including any schedules of premiums or discounts associated with the contracts and other specific details. USDA must make this information available to producers and other interested parties in a monthly report. The bill further requires USDA to establish five to seven regions encompassing the entire continental United States that reasonably reflect similar fed cattle purchase practices for processing plants and establish mandatory minimums for each region (i.e., the minimum percentage of cattle purchases that are required to be made through approved pricing mechanisms from producers that are not packers). Under the bill, approved pricing mechanisms are generally purchases of fed cattle made through a negotiated purchase, through a negotiated grid purchase, at a stockyard, or through trading systems or platforms where multiple buyers and sellers can regularly make and accept bids and offers. The bill also establishes a maximum penalty for mandatory minimum violations by covered packers. Under the bill, a covered packer is a packer that has slaughtered an average of 5% or more of the number of fed cattle slaughtered nationally during the immediately preceding five calendar years.

Babies Need More Formula Now Act of 2022 This bill addresses the regulation of infant formula, including by authorizing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to waive certain requirements related to importation. The FDA may waive labeling requirements related to the importation (or distribution or sale) of infant formula from a country with requirements that provide a similar assurance of safety as U.S. requirements. The FDA must, when appropriate, enter into arrangements to harmonize U.S. regulatory requirements pertaining to infant formula with the requirements of other nations. The bill imposes time lines for the FDA to respond to submissions for market approval for new infant formula. The FDA must also issue guidance as to what types of changes in the ingredients of infant formula, if any, may not require a new growth study to meet FDA requirements. The bill also authorizes a person to import, without prior notice to the FDA, up to a three-month supply of infant formula for personal use from a country with formula safety standards similar to U.S. standards, such as Canada. Before recommending or requiring a recall of infant formula due exclusively to a labeling deficiency, the FDA must ensure that the recall will not negatively affect the supply of formula in the United States. The bill also requires the FDA to (1) notify Congress no later than 24 hours after initiating a formula recall, and (2) provide certain information to formula manufacturers about restarting production after an inspection of a manufacturing facility impacted by a recall.