Bill focuses on farmers

INDIANAPOLIS — A new bill making its way through the Indiana Senate would provide further protection for farmers who sell grain to financially ruined yet still licensed buyers.

Senate Bill 364, authored and introduced by State Sen. Travis Holdman (R-Markle), would allow “banking irregularities” during a grain purchase to trigger an audit of sorts and possible suspension of a license for a grain elevator, among other changes. It received a hearing at Tuesday’s Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy committee meeting.

Two financial “failures” from grain elevators, which essentially assume temporary ownership of grain so it can be stored until its time to sell, in Huntington and Wells counties prompted Holdman, who represents parts of those counties in addition to Jay County, to introduce the bill, he said.

Matt Gilbert, who grows soybeans in northeast Indiana, told the committee that he received checks totaling $200,000 from Salamonie Mills and Agland Grain Co. that later bounced. However, since this occurred prior to those grain elevators designated “failure” date, Gilbert was not fully reimbursed from the state’s grain indemnity fund for storage fees and other financial costs.

“I personally know of at least 24 others in the same situation,” Gilbert told the committee, which did not take a vote on the bill at the request of Holdman.

The state’s grain indemnity fund, which farmers voluntarily pay into, is designed to repay farmers like Gilbert for 100% of costs related to storage and 80% of other costs after a licensed buyer fails to pay for acquired grain.

Designation of that failure, however, currently comes from the state department of agriculture. Those checks bouncing “should’ve been red flags to the (Indiana Grain Buyers and Warehouse Licensing Agency),” Gilbert said, but ultimately went unchecked until the grain elevators voluntarily forfeited their licenses months later, past the deadline for him to qualify for full reimbursement.

Sen. Jean Leising (R-Oldenburg) raised concerns that the bill, as written, would extend cases of the already-established 15 month “look-back” period for grain buyers after a financial mishap during the selling of grain.

“I applaud a lot of the things Sen. Holdman has in the bill,” Leising said while suggesting amendments to limit how far back the fund can be used to repay farmers in these type of situations.

She continued, recognizing the fund “is an important thing for farmers. And it’s farmer’s money.”

Farmers opt into the fund by paying a 0.2% premium on all grain transferred to licensed buyers during a collection period, which happens when the fund is below $25 million. Two such collection periods have happened during the late 1990s and 2010s. The fund currently sits at about $31 million.

As written, the bill would allow that repayment period currently set at 15 months to date back to the first banking irregularity from a licensed grain buyer, as determined by the director of the licensing agency.

Beginning July 1, the bill as it currently stands would prohibit grain elevators “from entering into a deferred pricing agreement or a delayed payment agreement in connection with grain purchases that extends beyond one year from the date of delivery of the grain,” which Holdman said would keep this sort of problem from happening again.

Joe Miller of Rose Acre Farms put it bluntly while testifying against the bill, saying that farmers who store grain beyond a 12-month period are acting off “speculation” of future market prices.

“Farmers are expected to practice at least decent business practices. … Any farmers that ignore these (guidelines) aren’t following good business practices,” Miller said.

Amendments and a potential vote on the bill are expected to happen at a future committee meeting.



Electronic filing

Earlier Tuesday, the Senate committee on transportation voted to send a bill authored by Holdman to the full chamber for a vote.

Senate Bill 400, also authored by Sens. Chris Garten (R-Charlestown) and Michael Crider (R-Greenfield), would require Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles to electronically process liens by the summer of 2022 and ownership titles by the summer of 2023.

Garten introduced the bill to the committee and said as written it would have “no fiscal impact on the state to implement these procedures.”

He continued, saying many BMV locations are already equipped to make the transition to this electronic filing system.

Bob Falk from Purdue Federal Credit Union said during the committee meeting that it’s currently easier for his company to file a lien in Ohio than it is in Indiana.

“The pandemic really showed us the weakness of the current process,” Falk said, “so the time is now.”



New bills

In addition to the nearly dozen he has already introduced, Holdman was added as an author to three bills in recent Senate sessions.

Senate Bill 257, first introduced by Sen. David Niezgodski (D-South Bend), would require certain state departments to annually report the number of employees improperly classified as independent contractors.

Senate Bill 275, first introduced by Sen. Eddie Melton (D-Gary), would allow counties to establish a property tax amnesty program.

Senate Bill 380, also authored by Sens. Erich Koch (R-Bedford) and Mark Messmer (R-Jasper), would reorganize new courts and judges in Hamilton, Decatur, Hancock, Huntington, Knox, Lake and Delaware counties.

Holdman was also added as a sponsor to House Bills 1004 and 1462, both of which are available to view along with every other bill at iga.in.gov.