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House Amendment 2a
H 4000 - Session 123 (2019-2020)
Appropriations Bill, 2019-2020
(Doc Name h:\legwork\house\amend\h-wm\001\h2 farm aid.docx):
EXPLANATION: Reduce Taxpayer Rebate $25m to provide $25M for Farm Aid and create the S.C. Farm Aid Fund
Amend the bill, as and if amended, Part IB, Section 118,
STATEWIDE REVENUE, page 530, 118.16 (Nonrecurring Revenue),
after line 17, by adding an appropriately numbered item to
read:
/ ( ) P160 - Department of Agriculture
Farm Aid
$25,000,000/
Amend the bill further, as and if amended, Part IB, Section 118, STATEWIDE REVENUE, page 533, paragraph 118.16 (Nonrecurring Revenue), line 9, opposite /Taxpayer Rebate/ by striking /$34,733,266/ and inserting /$9,733,266/
Amend the bill further, as and if amended, Part IB, Section 118,
STATEWIDE REVENUE, page 533, after line 11, by adding an
appropriately numbered paragraph to read:
/ 118.17. (SR:
Farm Aid) There is created the 'South Carolina Farm Aid Fund'.
This fund is separate and distinct from the general fund of the
State and all other funds. Earnings on this fund must be
credited to it. Revenues credited to this fund in a fiscal year
must be used in that fiscal year to operate a grant program that
provides financial assistance to farmers.
To be eligible for a grant,
the person must have:
(1)
experienced a verifiable loss of
agricultural commodities of at least thirty percent as a result
of the flooding occurring in the aftermath of Hurricanes Michael
and Florence for which:
(a)
the Governor declared a state of emergency
in the State for the county in which the farm is located;
and
(b)
the United States Secretary of Agriculture
issued a Secretarial Disaster Declaration for the county in
which the farm is located;
(2)
a farm number issued by the Farm Service
Agency;
(3)
signed an affidavit, under penalty of
perjury, certifying that each fact of the loss presented by the
person is accurate; and
(4)
a signed affidavit, under penalty of
perjury, certifying that no federal funds have been received for
these specific disasters, and in the event that federal funds
are received, the person will return all state monies received
under this program.
The Department of Agriculture
(department) shall administer the grant program authorized by
this proviso. The Department of Revenue shall assist the
Department of Agriculture in the administration of the grant
program by providing auditing services, accounting services, and
review and oversight of all financial aspects of the grant
program. There is created the Farm Aid Advisory Board to make
recommendations to the department regarding the duties of the
department in administering the grant program. The Commissioner
of Agriculture, or his designee, shall serve ex officio, as
chairman of the board. Also, the Director of the Department of
Revenue, or his designee, the Vice President for Public Service
and Agriculture of Clemson Public Service Activities, or his
designee, and the Vice President for Land Grant Services of
South Carolina State Public Service Activities, or his designee,
shall serve on the board. The following additional members
shall be appointed to the board:
(1)
the Commissioner of Agriculture shall
appoint one member representing the South Carolina Farm
Bureau;
(2)
the Commissioner of Agriculture shall
appoint one member representing a farm credit association;
(3)
the Director of the Department of Revenue
shall appoint one member representing the crop insurance
industry; and
(4)
the Director of the Department of Revenue
shall appoint one member who is an agricultural commodities
producer.
By July twentieth of the
current fiscal year, the board shall hold its initial meeting to
recommend an application process by which a person with a loss
resulting from the flooding occurring in the aftermath of
Hurricanes Michael and Florence may apply for a grant. Upon
adoption of an application process, the Department of
Agriculture shall provide the Chairman of the House Ways and
Means Committee and the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee
with a written copy of its application process within ten days
after its adoption. A person shall apply not later than
forty-five days after the adoption of the application process.
The department must ensure every person interested in applying
for a grant has access to adequate resources to submit his
application in a timely manner, and upon request, the department
must assist a person with the preparation of his
application.
Each grant awarded by the
department may not exceed twenty percent of the person's
verifiable loss of agricultural commodities. However, a person,
including any grant made to a related person, may not receive
grants aggregating more than one hundred thousand dollars.
Also, a person, including any grant made to a related person,
may not receive grants that when combined with losses covered by
insurance, exceed one hundred percent of the actual loss. If a
grant is made to a related person, the amount to be included in
the limits set by this proviso must be the amount of the grant
multiplied by the person's ownership interest in the related
person. However, a person who shares an ownership interest with
another person or entity may not be refused a grant solely
because the other person or related person has otherwise
received the maximum grant amount, but in this case, the
person's grant amount is limited by the person's ownership
interest.
If the total amount of grants
allowed pursuant to this proviso exceeds the monies in the fund,
then each person's grant must be reduced proportionately.
To determine loss, the
department:
(1)
must measure the person's cumulative total
loss of all affected agricultural commodities for the year in
which the flooding occurred against the person's expected
production of all agricultural commodities affected by the
flooding occurring in the aftermath of Hurricanes Michael and
Florence;
(2)
shall use the person's applicable actual
production history yield, as determined by the Federal Crop
Insurance Corporation, to determine loss for insured
agricultural commodities. In determining loss for uninsured
agricultural commodities, the department shall use the most
recent year's county price and county yield, as applicable, as
determined by the National Agriculture Statistics Service,
United States Department of Agriculture; and
(3)
may require any documentation or proof it
considers necessary to efficiently administer the grant program,
including the ownership structure of each entity and the social
security numbers of each owner. Minimally, in order to verify
loss, the department shall require the submission of dated,
signed, and continuous records. These records may include, but
are not limited to, commercial receipts, settlement sheets,
warehouse ledger sheets, pick records, load summaries,
contemporaneous measurements, truck scale tickets,
contemporaneous diaries, appraisals, ledgers of income, income
statements of deposit slips, cash register tape, invoices for
custom harvesting, u-pick records, and insurance documents.
Grant awards must be used for
agricultural production expenses and losses due to the flooding
which demonstrate an intent to continue the agricultural
operation; however, awards may not be used to purchase new
equipment. The department shall develop guidelines and
procedures to ensure that funds are expended in the manner
outlined in grant applications, and may require any
documentation it determines necessary to verify the appropriate
use of grant awards including receipts.
If the department determines
that a person who received a grant provided inaccurate
information, then the person shall refund the entire amount of
the grant. If the department determines that a person who
received a grant used the funds for ineligible expenses, then
the person must refund the amount of the ineligible expenses.
If the person does not refund the appropriate amount, the
Department of Revenue shall utilize the provisions of the Setoff
Debt Collection Act to collect the money from the person.
The department shall
coordinate the exchange of information between the USDA and the
Department of Revenue to identify any person that received a
Farm Aid grant for the flooding occurring in the aftermath of
Hurricanes Michael and Florence and also received federal aid
relief for the same disaster. Any person that is determined to
have received grant funds from both the state and federal
government, must immediately repay the state grant they
received.
If the department determines
that a person knowingly provided false information to obtain a
grant pursuant to this proviso or knowingly used funds for
ineligible expenses, the person shall be subject to prosecution
pursuant to Section 16-13-240.
Within forty-five days of the
completion of the awarding of grants, but no later than the end
of the fiscal year, the Farm Aid Advisory Board is dissolved.
Any funds remaining in the fund upon dissolution shall lapse to
the general fund.
The department may accept
private funds, grants, and property to be used to make financial
awards from the grant program.
If federal funds are
allocated for persons that are otherwise eligible for a grant
pursuant to this proviso before the current fiscal year begins,
then the provisions of this proviso are not effective and no
funds may be credited to the South Carolina Farm Aid Fund.
For purposes of this
proviso:
(1)
'Agricultural commodities' means wheat,
cotton, flax, corn, dry beans, oats, barley, rye, tobacco, rice,
peanuts, soybeans, sugar beets, sugar cane, tomatoes, grain
sorghum, sunflowers, raisins, oranges, sweet corn, dry peas,
freezing and canning peas, forage, apples, grapes, potatoes,
industrial hemp, timber and forests, nursery crops, citrus, and
other fruits and vegetables, nuts, tame hay, native grass,
aquacultural species including, but not limited to, any species
of finfish, mollusk, crustacean, or other aquatic invertebrate,
amphibian, reptile, or aquatic plant propagated or reared in a
controlled or selected environment, excluding stored grain;
(2)
'Person' means any individual, trust,
estate, partnership, receiver, association, company, limited
liability company, corporation, or other entity or group;
(3)
'Related person' means any person, joint
venture, or entity that has a direct or indirect ownership
interest of a person or legal entity; and
(4)
'Department' means the Department of
Agriculture./
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend totals and titles to conform.