1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to agriculture; modifying provisions relating 
  1.3             to the Farmer-Lender Mediation Act; providing 
  1.4             emergency financial relief for farm families in 
  1.5             certain counties; establishing a temporary program of 
  1.6             assistance for federal crop insurance premiums; 
  1.7             mitigating neighborhood insect infestation; 
  1.8             appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 1997 
  1.9             Supplement, section 583.22, subdivision 5; Laws 1986, 
  1.10            chapter 398, article 1, section 18, as amended. 
  1.11  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.12     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1997 Supplement, section 
  1.13  583.22, subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  1.14     Subd. 5.  [DIRECTOR.] "Director" means the director of the 
  1.15  conflict and change center at the University of Minnesota's 
  1.16  Humphrey Institute or the director's designee of the 
  1.17  commissioner of agriculture. 
  1.18     Sec. 2.  [REPORT.] 
  1.19     By the first Tuesday in January, 1999, the commissioner of 
  1.20  agriculture shall report to the committees on agriculture in the 
  1.21  senate and house of representatives on the need for and any 
  1.22  suggested changes in the Farmer-Lender Mediation Act. 
  1.23     Sec. 3.  [DEFINITIONS.] 
  1.24     Subdivision 1.  [APPLICABILITY.] The definitions in this 
  1.25  section apply to sections 3 and 4. 
  1.26     Subd. 2.  [COMMISSIONER.] "Commissioner" means the 
  1.27  commissioner of agriculture. 
  1.28     Subd. 3.  [CRISIS COUNTY.] "Crisis county" means Lincoln, 
  2.1   Pipestone, Lyon, Beltrami, Clay, Clearwater, Kittson, Lake of 
  2.2   the Woods, Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk, Red 
  2.3   Lake, or Roseau county. 
  2.4      Subd. 4.  [FARMER.] "Farmer" means a natural person 
  2.5   residing in Minnesota who operates a family farm as defined in 
  2.6   Minnesota Statutes, section 500.24, subdivision 2, located 
  2.7   wholly or in part in a crisis county.  "Farmer" also means a 
  2.8   resident who is a shareholder in a family farm corporation or a 
  2.9   partner in a family farm partnership as defined in Minnesota 
  2.10  Statutes, section 500.24, subdivision 2, located wholly or in 
  2.11  part in a crisis county. 
  2.12     Sec. 4.  [FEDERAL CROP INSURANCE ASSISTANCE.] 
  2.13     Subdivision 1.  [PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT.] Within 30 days 
  2.14  after the effective date of sections 3, 4, and 7, the 
  2.15  commissioner shall announce procedures and distribute 
  2.16  application forms for the federal crop insurance assistance 
  2.17  program. 
  2.18     Subd. 2.  [ELIGIBILITY.] A farmer is eligible for state 
  2.19  assistance for the cost of federal crop insurance during the 
  2.20  1998 growing season if: 
  2.21     (1) the farmer experienced a 50 percent or greater loss 
  2.22  from the United States Department of Agriculture, Farm Service 
  2.23  Agency, county yield or collected an indemnity or disaster 
  2.24  payment on wheat or barley average in wheat or barley yield in 
  2.25  one or more growing seasons between 1993 and 1997; 
  2.26     (2) the crop covered by the insurance is located in a 
  2.27  crisis county; and 
  2.28     (3) the farmer or the farmer's federal crop insurance agent 
  2.29  submits a properly completed application for assistance to the 
  2.30  commissioner on forms provided by the commissioner on or before 
  2.31  August 1, 1998. 
  2.32     Subd. 3.  [REIMBURSEMENT RATE, PRIORITY, AND MAXIMUM 
  2.33  ASSISTANCE.] (a) From funds appropriated for purposes of this 
  2.34  section, the commissioner shall provide reimbursement to an 
  2.35  eligible farmer for premiums and administrative fees paid for 
  2.36  federal crop insurance on wheat and barley grown in a crisis 
  3.1   county for the 1997 growing season.  The maximum reimbursement 
  3.2   available to any farmer, or in the case of a family farm 
  3.3   corporation or a family farm partnership, to the family farm 
  3.4   corporation or partnership, is $4,000. 
  3.5      (b) Properly completed applications for federal crop 
  3.6   insurance assistance take priority in the order in which they 
  3.7   are received by the commissioner. 
  3.8      (c) The farmer must be listed as the payee, or one of the 
  3.9   payees, on the reimbursement check. 
  3.10     Sec. 5.  [COMMISSIONER TO OVERSEE MITIGATION OF 
  3.11  NEIGHBORHOOD INSECT INFESTATION.] 
  3.12     (a) The commissioner of agriculture, in close cooperation 
  3.13  with the city of Minneapolis and all other appropriate public 
  3.14  and nonpublic entities, shall exercise all available authority 
  3.15  and enforcement powers to resolve a longstanding problem of red 
  3.16  flour beetle infestation in an area of Minneapolis adjacent to a 
  3.17  rail transportation corridor and a grain handling and processing 
  3.18  facility.  Notwithstanding other law, rule, or local authority 
  3.19  to the contrary, the commissioner is authorized to perform 
  3.20  inspections, tests, monitoring, insect trapping, or other 
  3.21  actions to identify the source or sources of the continued 
  3.22  infestation and bring enforcement actions adequate to accomplish 
  3.23  resolution of the problems. 
  3.24     (b) Not later than March 1, 1999, the commissioner shall 
  3.25  report to the agriculture policy committees of the senate and 
  3.26  the house of representatives on the actions taken, the 
  3.27  conditions identified, and corrective actions ordered and 
  3.28  completed. 
  3.29     (c) This section is effective the day following final 
  3.30  enactment. 
  3.31     Sec. 6.  Laws 1986, chapter 398, article 1, section 18, as 
  3.32  amended by Laws 1987, chapter 292, section 37; Laws 1989, 
  3.33  chapter 350, article 16, section 8; Laws 1990, chapter 525, 
  3.34  section 1; Laws 1991, chapter 208, section 2; Laws 1993, First 
  3.35  Special Session chapter 2, article 6, section 2; Laws 1995, 
  3.36  chapter 212, article 2, section 11; and Laws 1997, chapter 183, 
  4.1   article 3, section 29, is amended to read: 
  4.2      Sec. 18.  [REPEALER.] 
  4.3      Sections 1 to 17 and Minnesota Statutes, section 336.9-501, 
  4.4   subsections (6) and (7), and sections 583.284, 583.285, 583.286, 
  4.5   and 583.305, are repealed on July 1, 1998 1999. 
  4.6      Sec. 7.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  4.7      $8,800,000 is appropriated to the commissioner of 
  4.8   agriculture for purposes of section 4 from the additional money 
  4.9   transferred to the budget reserve and cash flow account under 
  4.10  Minnesota Statutes, section 16A.152.  Up to $70,000 of this 
  4.11  appropriation is available for necessary program administrative 
  4.12  costs of the department of agriculture. 
  4.13     Sec. 8.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  4.14     Sections 1 and 6 are effective July 1, 1998. 
  4.15     Sections 3, 4, and 7 are effective the day following final 
  4.16  enactment.