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ND Legislative Update by Kayla Pulvermacher, State Legislative Director Coming from an agricultural background and lobbying for ag issues for over 15 years, I was really looking forward to learning about credit unions and spending time in different committees this session. Boy, was I surprised with how much time I ended up spending in the ag committee after all! And as you read on, you’ll see the bills mostly dealt with insolvencies and mediation. During the 2019 Legislative Session, grain insolvencies was probably the biggest topic the House and Senate Agriculture Committees worked on; the result was moving the authority to inspect and bond grain elevators from the Public Service Commission to the Agriculture Department. This session, HB 1026 made changes to the Agriculture Department’s authority on intervening on a suspected insolvency. The original bill made changes to the assets that may be seized and included real property; the financial community suggested changes that narrowed their ability to seize all assets to just the grain that is still on the premises. HB 1172 didn’t have as successful of a story. The bill sought to make changes to Agricultural Mediation and Negotiation Services. This service, ran by the Agriculture Department, has a variety of mediations that it will perform. But one of the most used is between a producer and a financial institution in hopes that a deal can be reached that helps keeps the farmers on the farm and the financial institution whole. Most importantly, it is completely voluntary for both sides. At one point, the bill sponsor offered amendments to change the bill to require banks and credit unions to go through mediation. DakCU opposed this, offering other solutions like more funding for farm management education so that issues can be addressed sooner. The bill eventually went to a subcommittee and ultimately received a “do not pass.” It failed on a vote of the House. Finally, a bill that we’ve talked about many times: SB 2223. This bill began as a bill that made changes to the Deed In Lieu of Foreclosure process. Before the bill even had its hearing, it received amendments that changed it into a bill to affect those farmers who had federal debt management plans from 2006. It received another set amendments before the bill was voted on, but ultimately, those amendments were not taken up. The bill received a “do not pass” from the Senate Political Subdivisions committee and failed the Senate. Today marks Legislative Day 68 and we’re getting dangerously close to the end. How many days are left? I’m not one to make bets, but I think they’ll put in another 5 to 7 days. Send me your best guesses! You may contact Kayla Pulvermacher at kpulvermacher@dakcu.org with any advocacy concerns.
ND Legislative Update
by Kayla Pulvermacher, State Legislative Director
Coming from an agricultural background and lobbying for ag issues for over 15 years, I was really looking forward to learning about credit unions and spending time in different committees this session. Boy, was I surprised with how much time I ended up spending in the ag committee after all! And as you read on, you’ll see the bills mostly dealt with insolvencies and mediation. During the 2019 Legislative Session, grain insolvencies was probably the biggest topic the House and Senate Agriculture Committees worked on; the result was moving the authority to inspect and bond grain elevators from the Public Service Commission to the Agriculture Department. This session, HB 1026 made changes to the Agriculture Department’s authority on intervening on a suspected insolvency. The original bill made changes to the assets that may be seized and included real property; the financial community suggested changes that narrowed their ability to seize all assets to just the grain that is still on the premises. HB 1172 didn’t have as successful of a story. The bill sought to make changes to Agricultural Mediation and Negotiation Services. This service, ran by the Agriculture Department, has a variety of mediations that it will perform. But one of the most used is between a producer and a financial institution in hopes that a deal can be reached that helps keeps the farmers on the farm and the financial institution whole. Most importantly, it is completely voluntary for both sides. At one point, the bill sponsor offered amendments to change the bill to require banks and credit unions to go through mediation. DakCU opposed this, offering other solutions like more funding for farm management education so that issues can be addressed sooner. The bill eventually went to a subcommittee and ultimately received a “do not pass.” It failed on a vote of the House. Finally, a bill that we’ve talked about many times: SB 2223. This bill began as a bill that made changes to the Deed In Lieu of Foreclosure process. Before the bill even had its hearing, it received amendments that changed it into a bill to affect those farmers who had federal debt management plans from 2006. It received another set amendments before the bill was voted on, but ultimately, those amendments were not taken up. The bill received a “do not pass” from the Senate Political Subdivisions committee and failed the Senate. Today marks Legislative Day 68 and we’re getting dangerously close to the end. How many days are left? I’m not one to make bets, but I think they’ll put in another 5 to 7 days. Send me your best guesses! You may contact Kayla Pulvermacher at kpulvermacher@dakcu.org with any advocacy concerns.