HB 87 — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 3 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO A DELAWARE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION INSURANCE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

Carson HOUSE& OFSen. REPRESENTATIVES 152nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE AMENDMENT NO.

1Huxtable TOReps. HOUSE BILL NO.

87Briggs AMENDKing, HouseBush, BillDorsey No.Walker, Harris, Hilovsky, S.

87Moore; on lines 32 and 33 by deleting “multi-peril crop insurance and whole farm revenue protection insurance” and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

“policiesSens. and plans of insurance administered by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation”.

FURTHERHocker, AMENDHoffner, HouseLawson, BillParadee, No.Pettyjohn, Wilson HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 152nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE BILL NO.

87 byAN insertingACT afterTO lineAMEND 40TITLE and3 beforeOF lineTHE 41DELAWARE theCODE following:RELATING TO A DELAWARE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION INSURANCE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

“(6)WHEREAS, Qualifyingthe policy”United meansStates aDepartment policy,of orAgriculture’s planRisk ofManagement insuranceAgency administered(“RMA”) bymanages the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation,Corporation including(“FCIC”) to provide crop yield and revenue insurance.”insurance FURTHERproducts AMENDto HouseAmerica’s Billfarmers No.and ranchers and Approved Insurance Providers (“AIP”) sell and service federal crop yield and revenue insurance policies in Delaware through a public-private partnership with RMA;

87and onWHEREAS, linethe 56insurance bypremium deletingoptions “afor multi-perilrelevant croplevels insuranceof policy,crop orand wholerevenue farminsurance revenuecan protectionbe policy,”a anddeterrent insertingto ina lieuproducer thereofobtaining theadequate following:coverage;

“aand qualifyingWHEREAS, policy”.in prior legislative sessions the General Assembly approved funding for a multi-peril crop insurance assistance program, but the program was not sufficiently funded to sustain the program;

SYNOPSIS This Amendment adds a definition for “qualifying policy” and replacesWHEREAS, theto phraseensure “multi-perilagricultural cropproduction insurance and whole farm revenue protection” with “qualifying policy” in orderDelaware, tofor broaden the availablelong-term, typesit ofis policiesnecessary administeredto bycompliment the Federalhighly Cropsuccessful InsuranceAgricultural Corporation,Land andPreservation purchasedProgram by eligibleadopting Delawareand producers,implementing thatan willeffective beagricultural eligibleproduction forinsurance theassistance policyprogram. premium subsidy under this Program.

NOW, THEREFORE:

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

Section 1.

Amend Title 3 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline and by creating a new chapter as follows:

Chapter 8.

Delaware Agricultural Production Insurance Assistance Program.

§ 801.

Title.

This chapter shall be known as the “Delaware Agricultural Production Insurance Assistance Program”.

§ 802.

Purpose.

It is the declared purpose of this Program to support, encourage, and promote agriculture production in Delaware as a valued and viable occupation.

Promoting and supporting the State’s agricultural producers is essential to maintaining agriculture as a viable industry and important contributor to Delaware’s economy.

To ensure long-term agricultural production in Delaware it is necessary to adopt and implement an effective permanent program for yield and revenue HD :

MS :

DS Page 1 of 3 Released:

03/17/2023 10:01 AM insurance assistance for Delaware agricultural producers.

It is further recognized that a need exists to create sufficient economic incentives to encourage agricultural production given its vulnerability to weather, environmental and economic conditions that can result in low crop yields, and insufficient revenue, making farming unprofitable and unsustainable.

It is the purpose and intent of the General Assembly to provide for the creation of a permanent yield and revenue insurance assistance program to serve the long-term needs of producers in Delaware.

§ 803.

Definitions.

As used in this chapter:

(1) “Approved Insurance Providers” means those insurance providers approved by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency to sell multi-peril crop insurance and whole farm revenue protection insurance to Delaware’s eligible producers.

(2) “Department” means the Department of Agriculture.

(3) “Eligible producer” means a producer of agricultural commodities, in this State, who qualifies for coverage under the Federal Crop Insurance Act, and is qualified with the Department, in accordance with this chapter.

(4) “Federal Crop Insurance Corporation” means the entity established in 7 U.S.C.

§1508 (c) (8) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act, which administers the multi-peril crop insurance and whole farm revenue protection programs for agricultural producers.

(5) “Program” means the Delaware Agricultural Production Insurance Assistance Program.

§ 804.