House Concurrent Resolution 20

PAG LIN

  1  1           HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO.    
  1  2   BY  REASONER, BELL, BERRY, BUKTA, COHOON, CONNORS,
  1  3  DANDEKAR, DAVITT, FOEGE, FREVERT, GASKILL, GREIMANN,
  1  4     HEDDENS, HUNTER, HUSER, JOCHUM, KUHN, LENSING,
  1  5    LYKAM, MASCHER, McCARTHY, MERTZ, MILLER, MURPHY,
  1  6      MYERS, D. OLSON, OSTERHAUS, PETERSEN, QUIRK,
  1  7    SMITH, STEVENS, STRUYK, SWAIM, D. TAYLOR, THOMAS,
  1  8           WENDT, WHITAKER, WINCKLER, and WISE
  1  9 A Concurrent Resolution urging the United States
  1 10    Department of Agriculture to rescind an administrative
  1 11    regulation regarding grain warehouse licensing.
  1 12    WHEREAS, in August 2002, the United States
  1 13 Department of Agriculture adopted an administrative
  1 14 regulation, 7 C.F.R. } 735.1, which provides that
  1 15 federally licensed grain warehouses must no longer
  1 16 comply with state laws relating to merchandising,
  1 17 including recordkeeping, debt=to=asset requirements,
  1 18 liquidity requirements, sales arrangements, and
  1 19 participation in grain indemnity funds; and
  1 20    WHEREAS, historically, state regulatory agencies
  1 21 have regulated the merchandising of grain while the
  1 22 United States Department of Agriculture has regulated
  1 23 the storage of grain in federally licensed warehouses;
  1 24 and
  1 25    WHEREAS, adoption of this regulation effectively
  1 26 preempts Iowa regulation of federally licensed grain
  1 27 warehouses, which will then not be required to carry
  1 28 an Iowa state grain dealer's license, leaving Iowa
  1 29 grain producers unprotected from warehouses and
  1 30 elevators that file for bankruptcy or become insolvent
  2  1 as federal regulators have not developed an
  2  2 indemnification system; and
  2  3    WHEREAS, in 2001, the Iowa Grain Indemnity Fund
  2  4 paid out nearly $700,000 to Iowa grain producers after
  2  5 Crestland Cooperative, a federally licensed grain
  2  6 elevator, filed for bankruptcy; and
  2  7    WHEREAS, the states were not given an opportunity
  2  8 to comment on this regulation prior to its adoption as
  2  9 it was not included in the original drafting and
  2 10 comment phase of the rulemaking procedure; and
  2 11    WHEREAS, the adoption of this regulation will lead
  2 12 to costly and time=consuming litigation and could
  2 13 cause large losses to farmers left unprotected by
  2 14 state regulations and indemnification programs; NOW
  2 15 THEREFORE,
  2 16    BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, THE
  2 17 SENATE CONCURRING, That the General Assembly of the
  2 18 State of Iowa urges the Honorable Ann Veneman,
  2 19 Secretary of Agriculture, and the United States
  2 20 Department of Agriculture to rescind 7 C.F.R. } 735.1,
  2 21 regarding federally licensed grain warehouses'
  2 22 compliance with state grain warehouse merchandising
  2 23 laws; and
  2 24    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That, upon adoption, the
  2 25 Clerk of the House of Representatives shall prepare an
  2 26 official copy of this Resolution and send it to
  2 27 Secretary of Agriculture Veneman.
  2 28 LSB 1904HH 80
  2 29 kk/cf/24