H.F. _____ Section 1. Section 185C.16, Code 2014, is amended to read 1 as follows: 2 185C.16 Notice of referendum. 3 1. Notice The secretary shall provide a notice of a 4 referendum election to initiate or terminate a promotional 5 order . The notice shall be given by publication in a newspaper 6 of general circulation in this state at least ten days prior to 7 the date of the referendum and in any other reasonable manner 8 as determined by the secretary for the initial referendum and 9 by the board for termination of the promotional order. 10 2. The secretary shall provide notice of a special 11 referendum to each person included on the producer voting list 12 as provided in section 185C.20A. The notice shall be delivered 13 as follows: 14 a. Personally by mail or electronic mail within sixty days 15 of the date that the special referendum is to be conducted. 16 b. By publication in a newspaper of general circulation in 17 this state in the same manner provided in subsection 1. 18 Sec. 2. Section 185C.17, Code 2014, is amended to read as 19 follows: 20 185C.17 Contents of notice. 21 The notice of referendum required in section 185C.16 22 shall set forth the period of time for voting, voting 23 places , and such other information as the secretary may deem 24 necessary in an initial referendum. The board shall make such 25 determinations in any subsequent referendum. A notice for a 26 special referendum conducted pursuant to section 185C.21 shall 27 also state that a producer may request a mail ballot to vote as 28 provided in section 185C.17A. 29 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION . 185C.17A Voting requirements. 30 1. An eligible producer shall vote by casting a ballot and 31 signing a certification form swearing that the producer is 32 eligible to vote. 33 2. Except as provided in subsection 3, an eligible producer 34 shall vote at a voting place designated by the secretary. 35 -1- LSB 5523YC (4) 85 da/sc 1/ 8

H.F. _____ 3. a. In the case of a special referendum conducted 1 pursuant to section 185C.21, an eligible producer may vote by 2 mail ballot as required by the secretary. 3 b. A producer must submit a mail ballot request card to 4 the secretary which must be received by the secretary at least 5 forty-five days before the date of the special referendum. 6 c. Upon receipt of a mail ballot request card, submitted by 7 a producer, the secretary shall include the producer’s name, 8 address, and any electronic mail address on the producer voting 9 list required to be maintained under section 185C.20A. 10 d. Upon receipt of a timely submitted mail ballot request 11 card submitted by a producer, the secretary shall deliver 12 a mail ballot and certification form to the producer. The 13 mail ballot and certification form must allow a producer to 14 easily send the ballot and form together to the secretary via 15 ordinary mail. The secretary may also deliver an accompanying 16 envelope addressed to the secretary to each producer requesting 17 to vote by mail ballot. The secretary must deliver the mail 18 ballot, certification form, and any accompanying envelope to 19 the producer at least five days before the date of the special 20 referendum. 21 Sec. 4. Section 185C.18, Code 2014, is amended to read as 22 follows: 23 185C.18 Counting ballots . 24 At the close of a referendum voting period, the secretary 25 shall count and tabulate the ballots cast during the referendum 26 period. In a special referendum conducted pursuant to section 27 185C.21, a completed mail ballot and certification form as 28 provided in section 185C.17A must be received by the secretary 29 on or prior to the date of the special referendum or postmarked 30 by the United States postal service on or prior to the date of 31 the special referendum. 32 Sec. 5. NEW SECTION . 185C.18A Special referendums —— 33 assistive service —— authority to contract. 34 The secretary may contract with a person qualified to 35 -2- LSB 5523YC (4) 85 da/sc 2/ 8

H.F. _____ provide assistance services in conducting special referendums 1 as provided in section 185C.21. The person may assist the 2 secretary in providing a notice of the special referendum as 3 provided in section 185C.16, providing mail ballot request 4 cards as provided in section 185C.17A, counting ballots as 5 provided in section 185C.18, and maintaining a producer voting 6 list as provided in section 185C.20A. 7 Sec. 6. NEW SECTION . 185C.20A Producer voting list —— 8 registration; not a public record. 9 1. The secretary shall maintain a producer voting list. The 10 producer voting list shall only include the producer’s name, 11 mailing address, and electronic mail address, if any. The 12 department may purge the list as necessary to remove producers 13 who are not eligible to vote in a special referendum conducted 14 pursuant to section 185C.21. 15 2. The secretary shall provide registration postcards to 16 producers who request to be included on the producer voting 17 list. A producer shall not be required to be included on the 18 list. 19 3. The secretary shall provide notice of a special 20 referendum to each producer included on the producer voting 21 list as provided in section 185C.16. 22 4. The producer voting list is not a public record under 23 chapter 22 and is not otherwise subject to access by any 24 person other than the secretary or a person designated by the 25 secretary to administer this chapter. A designated person 26 shall only use the list for purposes of notifying producers of 27 a special referendum. 28 Sec. 7. Section 185C.21, Code 2014, is amended to read as 29 follows: 30 185C.21 State assessment —— rates . 31 1. The board shall determine and set the state assessment 32 rate. State assessments collected pursuant to the promotional 33 order shall be paid into the corn promotion fund established 34 in section 185C.26 . Except as provided in subsection 2 , a the 35 -3- LSB 5523YC (4) 85 da/sc 3/ 8

H.F. _____ maximum state assessment rate shall not exceed one-quarter of 1 one cent per imposed on each bushel upon of corn marketed in 2 this state. The board shall establish the effective date of 3 a rate change. 4 2. Upon request of the board, the secretary shall call 5 a special referendum for producers to vote on whether to 6 authorize an increase in the state assessment above rate to 7 exceed the maximum one-quarter of one cent per imposed on 8 each bushel of corn marketed in this state , notwithstanding 9 subsection 1 . The special referendum shall not be conducted 10 less than ninety days after the board delivers its request to 11 the secretary. The special referendum shall be conducted as 12 provided in this chapter for referendum elections. However, 13 the special referendum shall not affect the existence or length 14 of the promotional order in effect. If a majority of the 15 producers voting in the special referendum approve the state 16 assessment rate increase, the board may increase the assessment 17 rate to the amount approved in the special referendum. The 18 board shall establish the effective date of a rate change. 19 However, a the maximum state assessment rate shall not 20 exceed one cent per bushel of corn marketed in this state the 21 scheduled maximum rate determined as follows: 22 a. Before September 1, 2014, one cent . 23 b. For each marketing year of the period beginning September 24 1, 2014, and ending August 31, 2019, two cents. 25 c. For each marketing year of the period beginning September 26 1, 2019, and ending August 31, 2024, three cents. 27 d. For each marketing year of the period beginning September 28 1, 2024, and ending August 31, 2029, four cents. 29 e. For each marketing year beginning on and after September 30 1, 2029, five cents. 31 Sec. 8. Section 185C.22, Code 2014, is amended to read as 32 follows: 33 185C.22 State assessment on purchase invoice Settlement 34 documents . 35 -4- LSB 5523YC (4) 85 da/sc 4/ 8

H.F. _____ After a promotional order has been issued, the first 1 purchaser at the time of payment for corn shall show provide 2 the producer with settlement documents which include all of the 3 following: 4 1. A purchase invoice showing the total amount of the state 5 assessment deducted from the sale on the purchase invoice . 6 2. A registration postcard as provided in section 185C.20A. 7 3. A refund form as provided in section 185C.27. 8 Sec. 9. Section 185C.25, subsection 3, Code 2014, is amended 9 to read as follows: 10 3. The secretary shall conduct the election as provided for 11 a referendum under this chapter , including sections 185C.16 12 through 185C.20 185C.20A . If upon counting and tabulating the 13 ballots, the secretary determines that a majority of voting 14 producers favor termination of the state assessment, the 15 secretary, in cooperation with the board, shall terminate the 16 state assessment in an orderly manner as soon as practicable. 17 EXPLANATION 18 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 19 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 20 GENERAL. This bill amends provisions in Code chapter 185C 21 which authorizes the collection and expenditure of certain 22 moneys referred to as a state assessment (assessment), or 23 so-called “checkoff”, which is collected on each bushel of corn 24 marketed in this state. The assessment is collected when a 25 corn producer (producer) sells the corn to a first purchaser. 26 The first purchaser then remits the assessment to the Iowa corn 27 promotion board (board) which uses the collected moneys for 28 purposes of promoting the marketing of corn and corn products 29 and to provide for related education and research programs 30 and a financial assistance program (Code sections 185C.11, 31 185C.11A, and 185C.26). 32 BILL —— INCREASE IN MAXIMUM RATE OF STATE ASSESSMENT. The 33 bill increases the maximum rate of the assessment from one to 34 five cents which must be approved by producers voting in one 35 -5- LSB 5523YC (4) 85 da/sc 5/ 8

H.F. _____ or more future special referendums. However, the maximum rate 1 cannot exceed an amount established according to a schedule 2 based on a 12-month period referred to as a marketing year 3 (from September 1 to August 31). The maximum rate existing 4 during this marketing year (September 1, 2013 to August 31, 5 2014) must remain at one cent. The maximum rate for the 6 next five marketing years (September 1, 2014 to August 31, 7 2019) cannot exceed two cents. The maximum rate for the next 8 five marketing years (September 1, 2019 to August 31, 2024) 9 cannot exceed three cents. The maximum rate for the next five 10 marketing years (September 1, 2024 to August 31, 2029) cannot 11 exceed four cents. The maximum rate for all future marketing 12 years beginning September 1, 2029, cannot exceed five cents. 13 BILL —— SPECIAL REFERENDUM PROCEDURES. The bill requires 14 the secretary of agriculture (secretary) to maintain a 15 producer voting list which includes the names and addresses 16 of producers to notify in the event that the board calls for 17 a special referendum to increase the assessment. The list is 18 not a public record subject to disclosure under Code chapter 19 22. A producer may submit a mail ballot request card prior 20 to an upcoming special referendum. If timely received, the 21 secretary must deliver a mail ballot to the producer together 22 with a certification form which the producer must return to the 23 secretary. The completed mail ballot and certification must 24 be received by the secretary on or prior to the date of the 25 special referendum or be postmarked on or prior to that day. 26 The secretary is authorized to contract with a person qualified 27 to assist in performing services related to conducting a vote 28 by mail. 29 BILL —— SETTLEMENT SHEET. The bill requires that when a 30 first purchaser provides a purchase invoice to a producer, the 31 first purchaser must also provide other settlement documents, 32 including a registration postcard that allows a producer to 33 be included on the producer voting list and a refund form to 34 receive back the paid state assessment. 35 -6- LSB 5523YC (4) 85 da/sc 6/ 8

H.F. _____ CURRENT LAW —— SPECIAL REFERENDUM PROCEDURES. Once the 1 board notifies the secretary of its decision to propose a rate 2 increase, the secretary provides notice of the referendum in a 3 newspaper of general circulation in the state within 10 days 4 prior to the date of the special referendum (Code section 5 185C.16). The notice must specify the time and place for 6 voting. 7 CURRENT LAW —— ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BOARD AND ASSESSMENT. 8 An initial producer referendum established the board and the 9 imposition of an assessment according to a promotional order 10 adopted at an initial referendum (Code sections 185C.2 and 11 185C.3). The assessment was originally set at one quarter 12 cent. 13 CURRENT LAW —— INCREASING THE RATE. In order to increase 14 the rate, the board must submit the question to producers 15 at a special referendum conducted by the secretary. The 16 secretary must provide a notice of the special referendum in 17 state newspapers (Code section 186C.16). If producers vote to 18 approve an increase, the board has the discretion to impose the 19 new rate and set its effective date, so long as the increase 20 does not exceed the rate approved by producers. The maximum 21 rate cannot exceed one cent (Code section 185C.21) which is the 22 rate currently assessed. 23 CURRENT LAW —— FIRST PURCHASER’S INVOICE AND PRODUCER’S 24 RIGHT TO REFUND. The first purchaser must prepare a purchase 25 invoice at the time of sale stating the amount of the sale 26 and the associated deduction of the assessment (Code section 27 185C.22). A producer has 60 days in order to claim a refund 28 by submitting an application which must include a copy of the 29 purchase invoice or similar settlement documentation (Code 30 section 185C.27). Upon request, the board must provide a first 31 purchaser with an application form, and first purchasers must 32 furnish application forms to first producers. 33 APPLICABLE PENALTIES. A person who violates a provision 34 of Code chapter 185C is subject to a simple misdemeanor (Code 35 -7- LSB 5523YC (4) 85 da/sc 7/ 8