PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 6, 2025
Farm Credit Administration Independent Authority Act
This bill specifies that the Farm Credit Administration (FCA) is the sole regulator of the Farm Credit System (FCS) and establishes reporting requirements for FCS institutions (i.e., lenders).
Specifically, the bill states that the FCA is the sole and independent regulator of the FCS and exempts entities that are supervised by the FCA from the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA).
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
As background, the bill addresses a rule issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that implements provisions of the ECOA by requiring covered financial institutions, including FCS institutions, to collect and report to the CFPB data on credit applications for small businesses, including the principal owner's race, sex, and ethnicity. This 2023 rule has been challenged in court.
The bill also requires FCS institutions to (1) request that loan applicants and borrowers that are small farmers disclose information identifying their race, sex, and ethnicity; and (2) annually report the collected information to the FCA. The FCA must make the collected information available to the public on annual basis. If an FCS institution customer does not voluntarily report the requested information, the FCA may not require the institution to use other means to deduce the information.
In addition, the bill specifies that FCS institutions shall not be required to comply with the bill's requirements if financial institutions are not required to comply with the CFPB rule due to a court invalidating the rule or a repeal of the rule.
People & committees
Rep. Finstad, Brad [R-MN-1] · R–MN
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit.
Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Feb 27, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-06 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
This bill would require Farm Credit System lenders to ask small farmers and related borrowers for race, sex, and ethnicity information and report it annually to the Farm Credit Administration. The agency would publish the information annually without identifying applicants or borrowers. Customers could decline to disclose those details. Compliance with the bill’s regulations would no longer be required if financial institutions no longer had to comply with a specified federal lending rule.
shall— (1) request that loan applicants and borrowers that are small farmers disclose information identifying their race, sex, and ethnicity; (2) collect and maintain the information resulting from the requests; and (3) report to the Farm Credit Administration on an annual basis the information collected pursuant to the requests.
shall collect the information gathered by Farm Credit System institutions under this section and make the information available to the public on an annual basis
shall not require, in prescribing regulations to implement this section, that any Farm Credit System institution contradict the wishes of a customer who does not wish to voluntarily report race, sex, or ethnicity
the Farm Credit Administration shall not include any information that would reveal the identify of any loan applicant or borrower.
If financial institutions subject to subpart B of part 1002 of title 12, Code of Federal Regulations, are not required to comply with the rule promulgated pursuant to that subpart, whether because a court invalidates the rule or the rule is otherwise repealed, the Farm Credit System institutions shall not be required to comply with any regulation promulgated pursuant to the amendments made by this Act.
Section 1 would name the bill the Farm Credit Administration Independent Authority Act. Section 2 states that its purpose is to affirm the Farm Credit Administration’s role as the Farm Credit System’s sole and independent regulator.
This Act may be cited as the Farm Credit Administration Independent Authority Act.
The purpose of this section is to affirm that the Farm Credit Administration is the sole and independent regulator of the Farm Credit System.
The proposed data collection section would cover small farmers, ranchers, and producers or harvesters of aquatic products, using definitions established under section 4.19 of the Farm Credit Act. The bill does not reproduce those definitions or their eligibility thresholds.
In this section, the term small farmer means a small farmer, rancher, or producer or harvester of aquatic products as defined pursuant to section 4.19.
Under Farm Credit Administration regulations, Farm Credit System institutions would have to request covered applicants’ and borrowers’ race, sex, and ethnicity, keep the information received, and report it annually to the agency. The requirement would apply notwithstanding other provisions of law.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, Farm Credit System institutions, pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Farm Credit Administration, shall— (1) request that loan applicants and borrowers that are small farmers disclose information identifying their race, sex, and ethnicity; (2) collect and maintain the information resulting from the requests; and (3) report to the Farm Credit Administration on an annual basis the information collected pursuant to the requests.
If a customer declined to report race, sex, or ethnicity voluntarily, the agency could not require the lender to report those details based on appearance, surname, or another method.
shall not require, in prescribing regulations to implement this section, that any Farm Credit System institution contradict the wishes of a customer who does not wish to voluntarily report race, sex, or ethnicity by requiring the Farm Credit System institution to report the race, sex, or ethnicity of the customer based on visual observation, surname, or any other method.
The agency would have to collect the lenders’ information and make it public annually. Its reports could not include information revealing an applicant’s or borrower’s identity.
shall collect the information gathered by Farm Credit System institutions under this section and make the information available to the public on an annual basis
In reporting the information collected under this section, the Farm Credit Administration shall not include any information that would reveal the identify of any loan applicant or borrower.
The new data collection section would apply only to applications received and loans made at least one year after that section’s enactment. The text does not supply a calendar start date.
This section shall apply only to applications received and loans made 1 year or more after the date of the enactment of this section.
Section 3 would add an express exclusion for any entity supervised by the Farm Credit Administration to section 704B(h)(1) of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. Because the existing provision is not reproduced, the supplied text does not establish the exclusion’s full legal scope.
Section 704B(h)(1) of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691c–2(h)(1)) is amended by inserting , other than any entity that is supervised by the Farm Credit Administration before the period at the end.
Section 4 would remove the requirement for Farm Credit System institutions to comply with regulations issued under this bill if financial institutions subject to the rule under title 12, part 1002, subpart B of the Code of Federal Regulations were no longer required to comply with that rule. The stated circumstances include court invalidation or repeal of the rule.
If financial institutions subject to subpart B of part 1002 of title 12, Code of Federal Regulations, are not required to comply with the rule promulgated pursuant to that subpart, whether because a court invalidates the rule or the rule is otherwise repealed, the Farm Credit System institutions shall not be required to comply with any regulation promulgated pursuant to the amendments made by this Act.
The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated February 27, 2026, records introduction in the House and referrals to the Agriculture and Financial Services committees on February 6, 2025. It also records referral to the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit on March 7, 2025.
Source snapshot updated 2026-02-27T09:06:49Z. 2025-03-07: Referred to the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit. 2025-02-06: Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
2025-02-06: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-06. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not establish the absence of riders in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish formal earmark status in absent accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
Findings to examine
The supplied introduced text contains an institution-specific statutory exclusion and conditional compliance relief related to its main policy. Their classification does not establish improper intent or economic effects.
Entities supervised by the Farm Credit Administration would receive an express exclusion from the existing provision in Equal Credit Opportunity Act section 704B(h)(1). This is a targeted statutory carve-out connected to the bill’s proposed separate data collection framework. The existing provision is not reproduced, limiting conclusions about the exclusion’s full effect.
Section 704B(h)(1) of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691c–2(h)(1)) is amended by inserting , other than any entity that is supervised by the Farm Credit Administration before the period at the end.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, Farm Credit System institutions, pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Farm Credit Administration, shall— (1) request that loan applicants and borrowers that are small farmers disclose information identifying their race, sex, and ethnicity;
Farm Credit System institutions would receive conditional relief from all regulations issued under the bill’s amendments if financial institutions were no longer required to comply with the specified federal rule. This exception is directly tied to the bill’s regulatory framework.
If financial institutions subject to subpart B of part 1002 of title 12, Code of Federal Regulations, are not required to comply with the rule promulgated pursuant to that subpart, whether because a court invalidates the rule or the rule is otherwise repealed, the Farm Credit System institutions shall not be required to comply with any regulation promulgated pursuant to the amendments made by this Act.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Feb 27, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI