Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking SECTION 2 and inserting:
/ SECTION 2. Chapter 1, Title 46 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 46-1-160. (A)(1) 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. Revenues credited to this fund in a fiscal year must be used to operate a loan program that provides financial assistance to farmers.
(2) To be eligible for a loan the person must have:
(a) experienced a verifiable loss of agricultural commodities of at least forty percent as a result of the catastrophic flooding of October 2015, for which:
(i) the Governor declared a state of emergency in the State; and
(ii) the United States Secretary of Agriculture issued a Secretarial Disaster Declaration for the county in which the farm is located;
(b) a farm number issued by the Farm Service Agency; and
(c) signed an affidavit, under penalty of perjury, certifying that each fact of the loss presented by the person is accurate.
(B)(1) The Department of Agriculture shall administer the loan program authorized by this section. There is created the Farm Aid Advisory Board to make recommendations to the department regarding the duties of the department in administering the loan 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. Finally, the following additional members shall be appointed to the board:
(a) the Chairman of the House of Representatives Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Environmental Affairs Committee shall appoint one member;
(b) the ranking member of the largest minority party on the House of Representatives Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Environmental Affairs Committee shall appoint one member;
(c) the Chairman of the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee shall appoint one member; and
(d) the ranking member of the largest minority party on the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee shall appoint one member.
(2) Within twenty days of the effective date of this section, the board shall hold its initial meeting to recommend an application process by which a person with a loss resulting from the flooding in October 2015, may apply for a loan. Upon adoption of an application process, the Department of Agriculture shall provide the Chairmen of the House Ways and Means Committee and 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 loan 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.
(3)(a) Each loan awarded by the department may not exceed twenty percent of the person's verifiable loss of agricultural commodities. However, a person, including any loan made to a related person, may not receive loans aggregating more than one hundred thousand dollars. Also, a person, including any loan made to a related person, may not receive loans that when combined with losses covered by insurance, exceed one hundred percent of the actual loss. If a loan is made to a related person, the amount to be included in the limits set by this section must be the amount of the loan multiplied by the person's ownership interest in an entity owned by the related person. However, a person who shares an ownership interest with another person or entity may not be refused a loan solely because the other person or related person has otherwise received the maximum loan amount, but in this case, the person's loan amount is limited by the person's ownership interest.
(b) Each loan awarded pursuant to this act shall bear no interest over its lifetime and each loan will have a term of no more than ten years. The Department of Agriculture shall collect the loan repayments and transfer the funds received to the State Treasurer for remittance to the general fund of the State.
(c) If the total amount of loans allowed pursuant to subitem (a) exceeds the monies in the fund, then each person's loan must be reduced proportionately.
(4) To determine loss, the department:
(a) must measure the person's cumulative total loss of all affected agricultural commodities for 2015 against the person's expected production of all agricultural commodities affected by the flood in 2015;
(b) 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
(c) may require any documentation or proof it considers necessary to efficiently administer the loan 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.
(C) Loan awards must be used for agricultural production expenses and losses due to the flood 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 the loan applications, and may require any documentation it determines necessary to verify the appropriate use of loan awards including receipts.
(D)(1) If the department determines that a person who received a loan provided inaccurate information, then the person shall refund the entire amount of the loan immediately. If the department determines that a person who received a loan 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 or fails to repay the full loan amount in the required time, the Department of Revenue shall utilize the provisions of the Setoff Debt Collection Act to collect the money from the person.
(2) If the department determines that a person knowingly provided false information to obtain a loan pursuant to this section or knowingly used funds for ineligible expenses the person shall be guilty of violating Section 16-13-240.
(E)(1) From the 2014-2015 Contingency Reserve Fund, there is appropriated $40,000,000 to the South Carolina Farm Aid Fund.
(2) Upon the completion of the awarding of loans, but no later than June 30, 2017, the Farm Aid Advisory Board is dissolved, and this act is repealed, except that the department shall continue to receive loan payments and transfer the repaid funds to the State Treasurer for remittance to the general fund of the State. Any funds remaining in the fund upon dissolution and repeal shall lapse to the general fund.
(F) The department may accept private funds, grants, and property to be used to make financial awards for the loan program.
(G) The Department of Agriculture must administer the loan program authorized by this section using existing resources and funds.
(H) For purposes of this section:
(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, 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." /
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.