Scott Franklin

Florida Freeze Disaster Assistance Act of 2026

Florida Freeze Disaster Assistance Act of 2026 This bill provides $3.5 billion in emergency funding for the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide block grants to certain states for losses of revenue, quality, or production of crops (including crops prevented from planting), trees, bushes, and vines as a consequence of a freeze or cold weather conditions. The bill specifies that the funding may only be made available for losses occurring in counties that received a disaster designation for freeze and related cold weather conditions issued by USDA on March 4, 2026. (This includes certain counties in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.) The bill requires the assistance provided by the bill to include compensation to producers for losses of multi-year crops. The funds provided by this bill must be made available upon the request of a state department of agriculture or other appropriate state agency.

SCHEDULES Act of 2026

Scheduling for Community Health and Easy Data to Understand for Legislators to Evaluate Services Act of 2026 or the SCHEDULES Act of 2026 This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish a standard for timing between the date on which a referral for VA care is entered into the VA's system and the date on which an appointment for care occurs, whether at a VA facility or through care in the community. The VA must publish the standard in the Federal Register and on a publicly accessible VA website. Additionally, the VA must submit a report at least quarterly on the number and percentage of referrals that meet the new timing standard.

ACCURATE Act

I don't have enough information to write an accurate summary. The bill title "ACCURATE Act" and its referral to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology suggest it relates to science or technology policy, but without knowing the specific subjects or provisions of the bill, I cannot provide concrete details about what it would do or who it affects. To write a proper summary, I would need access to the bill's text or more detailed information about its purpose and provisions.

TEMP Act

Temperature Event Mitigation Policy Act or the TEMP Act This bill directs the federal crop insurance program to provide for research and development regarding a temperature-based index policy to insure crops (including tomatoes, peppers, sugarcane, strawberries, melons, citrus, peaches, and blueberries) on a nationally-available basis against losses due to a frost or cold weather event. The research and development must (1) evaluate the effectiveness of risk management tools with respect to low frequency and catastrophic loss weather events, and (2) result in a policy that provides protection for production loss or revenue loss. The term policy means an insurance policy, plan of insurance, provision of a policy or plan of insurance, and related materials. Under an index policy, claim payments are generally triggered based on a predetermined index that is entirely independent of the individual farm operation (e.g., temperature level). Under such a policy, the payments are automatically triggered when the index reaches a certain level rather than when an insured farmer files a claim.

Land Grant Research Prioritization Act of 2026

Land Grant Research Prioritization Act of 2026 This bill includes additional priorities as Department of Agriculture (USDA) high-priority research and extension areas. Under the bill, USDA may award grants for developing and evaluating (1) technologies to mechanize agricultural processes (and may emphasize processes for harvesting specialty crops), and (2) agricultural uses of artificial intelligence (and may emphasize uses for improving specialty crop production). Further, USDA may award grants to support research projects at land-grant colleges and universities to develop and apply methods to manage and eradicate invasive species of plants and animals, including through methods of biocontrol; and aquaculture methods, including through the propagation and rearing of economically and ecologically valuable aquatic and marine species.

To ensure that Big Cypress National Preserve may not be designated as wilderness or as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System, and for other purposes.

This bill prohibits the Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida from being designated as wilderness or as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System. The National Park Service currently manages Big Cypress National Preserve, which is a freshwater swamp ecosystem of 729,000 acres. In general, development activities, commercial activities, permanent structures, and roads are prohibited in wilderness areas. In contrast, natural preserves typically allow some development activities, such as hunting or oil and gas exploration.

Defending Domestic Orange Juice Production Act of 2025

Defending Domestic Orange Juice Production Act of 2025 This bill requires finished pasteurized orange juice to contain at least 10% by weight of orange juice soluble solids, exclusive of the solids of any added optional sweetening ingredients. (Current regulations require at least 10.5% by weight of orange juice soluble solids.)