H.R. 1951 — Strengthening Rural Cooperatives and Communities Act

This section reauthorizes the rural cooperative development grant program through 2029 (from 2023) and makes the following changes to the program, which provides grants to nonprofit organizations for technical assistance to cooperatives in rural areas: (1) adds a definition of "cooperative development" to mean activities such as outreach, education, training, and technical assistance to support the startup, expansion, or sustainability of cooperatives; (2) requires grant selection plans to award maximum points to applicants satisfying paragraph (5)(F) requirements; (3) revises eligibility criteria in paragraph (5)(D) to require commitment to serving socially vulnerable, underserved, or distressed communities; (4) makes mandatory (from discretionary) certain actions under paragraph (6)(B); (5) requires the Secretary to analyze research data under paragraph (10) and include it in the interagency working group's annual report; and (6) requires the interagency working group to submit to Congress, within 180 days of enactment and annually thereafter, a report on its activities under paragraph (12).