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Bill

H 5569

Farm Aid and Resiliency Grant Fund

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Terry Alexander and 69 co-sponsors

Establishes a dedicated South Carolina Farm Aid and Resiliency Grant Fund with a one-time $50 million seed from the Contingency Reserve Fund to provide targeted grants to farmers,

Referred to Committee on Ways and Means
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Bill Summary · H 5569

Summary of Bill H. 5569 (Session 2025-2026) – South Carolina

Purpose and Intent

  • Create a dedicated funding mechanism named the “South Carolina Farm Aid and Resiliency Grant Fund.”
  • Establish a new grant program to provide financial assistance to farmers, with administration and guidelines to be developed in coordination with the Office of Resilience and the Department of Agriculture.

Key Provisions

Creation and Structure

  • Introduces Section 48-62-80 to create the South Carolina Farm Aid and Resiliency Grant Fund.
  • The fund is established as separate from the General Fund and other state funds.
  • Earnings credited to the fund, and any year-end balance carries forward to the next fiscal year.
  • Revenue deposited into this fund in any given year is to be used exclusively to operate a grant program that provides financial assistance to farmers.

Administration and Guiding Procedures

  • The Office of Resilience is designated to administer the fund.
  • The Office, in consultation with the Department of Agriculture, must develop:
    • Criteria for eligibility
    • Application procedures
    • Award guidelines for the grant program

Funding and Allocation

  • From the Contingency Reserve Fund, the bill appropriates $50,000,000 (fifty million dollars) to the South Carolina Farm Aid and Resiliency Grant Fund.
  • This is a one-time appropriation from the Contingency Reserve Fund to seed the grant program. The bill does not specify ongoing annual funding beyond the initial appropriation.

Effective Date

  • The act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

Who Is Affected

  • Farmers and farming operations seeking financial assistance in South Carolina.
  • The Office of Resilience (state agency) as the administrator of the fund.
  • The Department of Agriculture, which will collaborate on criteria, procedures, and guidelines.
  • State government finances, particularly the Contingency Reserve Fund and the new grant fund’s solvency and use of funds.

Procedural and Timeline Aspects

  • Introduction and First Reading: 2026-04-23
  • Referral: Committee on Ways and Means
  • Effective date is upon the Governor’s approval (not retroactive)

Additional Context

  • The bill lists a broad slate of co-sponsors, indicating wide legislative support.
  • The framework emphasizes resilience and farm financial support during emergencies or stress conditions, though specifics about program eligibility, grant amounts, or award cycles will be determined by the implementing offices through the forthcoming criteria and guidelines.

Potential Impact (High-Level)

  • Establishes a dedicated, shielded source of funding for farm aid, potentially improving farmers’ access to timely financial assistance.
  • Creates a formal process for grant eligibility and awards, potentially reducing ad-hoc or fragmented aid efforts.
  • May influence agricultural policy by tying resilience funding to the Office of Resilience and Department of Agriculture collaboration.
  • Initial $50 million infusion from the Contingency Reserve Fund sets the program’s scale, with future funding to be determined by annual budget decisions and ongoing fund performance.

If you’d like, I can tailor this summary to emphasize specific stakeholders (e.g., farmers, agricultural lenders, rural communities) or compare it to similar grant programs in other states.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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