119th Congress · introduced in the House · Mar 6, 2025
Strengthening Rural Cooperatives and Communities Act
Official title from Congress.gov
Latest action (Mar 28, 2025): Referred to the Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development.
View on Congress.govPolicy area: Agriculture and Food
Congressional Research Service summary, version: Introduced in House (Mar 6, 2025)
Strengthening Rural Cooperatives and Communities Act
This bill reauthorizes through FY2029 and modifies the Rural Cooperative Development Grant (RCDG) Program. This Department of Agriculture (USDA) program provides grants to nonprofit institutions to help individuals and businesses start, expand, or improve rural cooperatives and other mutually-owned businesses through Rural Cooperative Development Centers.
USDA must give preference to grants that commit to providing technical assistance and other services to socially vulnerable, underserved, or distressed communities. Under current law, USDA must give preference to underserved and economically distressed areas in rural areas.
In addition, USDA may give an additional preference to applications that commit to providing a 25% matching contribution for the center with private funds and in-kind contributions. Specifically, USDA may award the maximum points in application scoring criteria to applicants that satisfy this requirement.
Under the bill, cooperative development includes activities (e.g., outreach, education, training, and technical assistance) to support the startup, expansion, or ongoing sustainability of new and existing cooperatives. Current law does not define cooperative development.
The bill directs the RCDG interagency working group to submit an annual report to Congress on its activities.
Show the full summary (1 more paragraphs)Includes amendment, cloture, and procedural votes. Each is labeled with its exact question; only a passage question is a vote to pass the bill.
No recorded roll calls on this bill in coverage.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development.
Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Actions from Congress.gov, newest first.
LD-2 reports whose issue descriptions explicitly cite this bill (bill type and number validated against Congress.gov records). A citation does not establish the client's position or any contact with a member.
Loading lobbying reportsCoverage: reports for 2025 onward, posted Jan 1, 2025 through Oct 23, 2026.
7 citations.
COBANK ACB · lobbying firm or registrant: COBANK, ACB
2026 Q3 report (Jul 1, 2026 – Sep 30, 2026) · posted Oct 16, 2026 · issue area: Agriculture
$270,000
Spent on own lobbying
…rm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 H.R.1246 - Investing in Rural America Act of 2025 H.R.2518/S.1217 - Fishing Industry Credit Enhancement Act of 2025 H.R.1951 - Strengthening Rural Cooperatives and Communities Act H.R.1991/S.899 - Producer and Agricultural Credit Enhancement Act of 2025 H.R.1063 - Farm Credit Adminis…
Congress inferred from the report year; bill number and the title cited with it match Congress.gov records, and the bill predates the report. The amount is lobbying spending for every issue on this report, not this bill alone, and none of it is paid to any member of Congress. View filing
COBANK ACB · lobbying firm or registrant: COBANK, ACB
2026 Q2 report (Apr 1, 2026 – Jun 30, 2026) · posted Jul 17, 2026 · issue area: Agriculture
$300,000
Spent on own lobbying
…rogram H.R.7567 - Farm Bill Reauthorization H.R.1246 - Investing in Rural America Act of 2025 H.R.2518/S.1217 - Fishing Industry Credit Enhancement Act of 2025 H.R.1951 - Strengthening Rural Cooperatives and Communities Act H.R.1991/S.899 - Producer and Agricultural Credit Enhancement Act of 2025 H.R.1063 - Farm Credit Adminis…
Congress inferred from the report year; bill number and the title cited with it match Congress.gov records, and the bill predates the report. The amount is lobbying spending for every issue on this report, not this bill alone, and none of it is paid to any member of Congress. View filing
COBANK ACB · lobbying firm or registrant: COBANK, ACB
2026 Q1 report (Jan 1, 2026 – Mar 31, 2026) · posted Apr 16, 2026 · issue area: Agriculture
$240,000
Spent on own lobbying
…rogram H.R.7567 - Farm Bill Reauthorization H.R.1246 - Investing in Rural America Act of 2025 H.R.2518/S.1217 - Fishing Industry Credit Enhancement Act of 2025 H.R.1951 - Strengthening Rural Cooperatives and Communities Act H.R.1991/S.899 - Producer and Agricultural Credit Enhancement Act of 2025 H.R.1063 - Farm Credit Adminis…
Congress inferred from the report year; bill number and the title cited with it match Congress.gov records, and the bill predates the report. The amount is lobbying spending for every issue on this report, not this bill alone, and none of it is paid to any member of Congress. View filing
COBANK ACB · lobbying firm or registrant: COBANK, ACB
2025 Q4 report (Oct 1, 2025 – Dec 31, 2025) · amended · posted Apr 15, 2026 · issue area: Agriculture
$310,000
Spent on own lobbying
…nvestment Program Farm Bill Reauthorization H.R.1246 - Investing in Rural America Act of 2025 H.R.2518/S.1217 - Fishing Industry Credit Enhancement Act of 2025 H.R.1951 - Strengthening Rural Cooperatives and Communities Act H.R.1991/S.899 - Producer and Agricultural Credit Enhancement Act of 2025 H.R.1063 - Farm Credit Adminis…
Congress inferred from the report year; bill number and the title cited with it match Congress.gov records, and the bill predates the report. The amount is lobbying spending for every issue on this report, not this bill alone, and none of it is paid to any member of Congress. View filing
COBANK ACB · lobbying firm or registrant: COBANK, ACB
2025 Q3 report (Jul 1, 2025 – Sep 30, 2025) · posted Oct 15, 2025 · issue area: Agriculture
$280,000
Spent on own lobbying
…nvestment Program Farm Bill Reauthorization H.R.1246 - Investing in Rural America Act of 2025 H.R.2518/S.1217 - Fishing Industry Credit Enhancement Act of 2025 H.R.1951 - Strengthening Rural Cooperatives and Communities Act H.R.1991/S.899 - Producer and Agricultural Credit Enhancement Act of 2025 H.R.1063 - Farm Credit Adminis…
Congress inferred from the report year; bill number and the title cited with it match Congress.gov records, and the bill predates the report. The amount is lobbying spending for every issue on this report, not this bill alone, and none of it is paid to any member of Congress. View filing
COBANK ACB · lobbying firm or registrant: COBANK, ACB
2025 Q2 report (Apr 1, 2025 – Jun 30, 2025) · posted Jul 22, 2025 · issue area: Agriculture
$320,000
Spent on own lobbying
…ct Implementation Farm Bill Reauthorization H.R.1246 - Investing in Rural America Act of 2025 H.R.2518/S.1217 - Fishing Industry Credit Enhancement Act of 2025 H.R.1951 - Strengthening Rural Cooperatives and Communities Act H.R.1991/S.899 - Producer and Agricultural Credit Enhancement Act of 2025 H.R.1063 - Farm Credit Adminis…
Congress inferred from the report year; bill number and the title cited with it match Congress.gov records, and the bill predates the report. The amount is lobbying spending for every issue on this report, not this bill alone, and none of it is paid to any member of Congress. View filing
COBANK ACB · lobbying firm or registrant: COBANK, ACB
2025 Q1 report (Jan 1, 2025 – Mar 31, 2025) · posted Apr 20, 2025 · issue area: Agriculture
$290,000
Spent on own lobbying
…ct Implementation Farm Bill Reauthorization H.R.1246 - Investing in Rural America Act of 2025 H.R.2518/S.1217 - Fishing Industry Credit Enhancement Act of 2025 H.R.1951 - Strengthening Rural Cooperatives and Communities Act H.R.1991/S.899 - Producer and Agricultural Credit Enhancement Act of 2025 H.R.1063 - Farm Credit Adminis…
Congress inferred from the report year; bill number and the title cited with it match Congress.gov records, and the bill predates the report. The amount is lobbying spending for every issue on this report, not this bill alone, and none of it is paid to any member of Congress. View filing