# 115-hr-5208: Seeds for the Future Act

115-hr-5208, Seeds for the Future Act, is a 115th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Pocan, Mark [D-WI-2] (D-WI); status Referred to the Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research. (as of 2025-11-18).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/115-hr-5208
- As of: 2025-11-18
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 115-hr-5208
- Congress: 115
- Title: Seeds for the Future Act
- Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research.
- Introduced: 2018-03-07
- Sponsor: Rep. Pocan, Mark [D-WI-2] (D-WI)
- Cosponsors: 4
- Policy area: Agriculture and Food
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2025-11-18

## Summary

Seeds for the Future Act This bill amends the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act to require the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to ensure that at least $50 million of USDA grant funding is used each year for competitive research grants that support the development of public cultivars. A "cultivar" is a variety of plant that has been intentionally selected for use in cultivation because of its improved characteristics. A "public cultivar" is the commercially available uniform end product of a publicly funded breeding program that has been sufficiently tested to demonstrate improved characteristics and stable performance. The bill also amends the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to establish a public cultivar research activities coordinator within USDA to coordinate research activities relating to the breeding of public cultivars.

## Cosponsors (4)

- Rep. Soto, Darren [D-FL-9] (D-FL), 2018-03-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Kilmer, Derek [D-WA-6] (D-WA), 2018-04-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Maloney, Sean Patrick [D-NY-18] (D-NY), 2018-04-13T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Price, David E. [D-NC-4] (D-NC), 2018-05-09T00:00:00.000Z

## Related bills

- 115-hr-6545: Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2018
- 115-hr-6510: Restore Our Parks and Public Lands Act
- 115-hr-6239: DISCLOSE Act of 2018
- 115-hr-6135: Keep Families Together Act
- 115-hr-6033: International Human Rights Defense Act of 2018
- 115-hr-5374: Student Non-Discrimination Act of 2018

## Sources
- [115-hr-5208 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/5208)

## Related
- [115-hr-6545: Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2018](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/115-hr-6545)
- [115-hr-6510: Restore Our Parks and Public Lands Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/115-hr-6510)
- [115-hr-6239: DISCLOSE Act of 2018](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/115-hr-6239)
- [115-hr-6135: Keep Families Together Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/115-hr-6135)
- [115-hr-6033: International Human Rights Defense Act of 2018](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/115-hr-6033)
- [115-hr-5374: Student Non-Discrimination Act of 2018](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/115-hr-5374)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/115-hr-5208 (as of 2025-11-18).