LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN – April 22, 2003

            The legislative session is in its final days, and should be adjourning this week.  The max 80 days of session allowed for in the State Constitution runs out on April 30.

            SB 2358, the railroad lease and liability bill, went through six conference committee sessions in the past two weeks.  That is highly unusual.  There were pluses and minuses to what happened there.  The bill came out Do Pass last Thursday and passed both the Senate (45-1) and the House (60-29) yesterday.  It now goes to the Governor.  The bill provides less protection for grain elevators than what was there when introduced back in January.  But it is a step in the right direction.  There is no longer an expiration date of July 31, 2005 on the bill.  The bill also orders an interim legislative study on railroad lease issues.

            HB 1372, blocking railroad crossings, was signed by the Governor just last night.  Anyone operating a train that blocks a railroad crossing for more than 10 minutes while traffic is waiting, is to have a written agreement with the governmental entity that has jurisdiction over the roadway (counties for county roads, townships for township roads, cities for city streets).  Many of these agreements exist already.  The agreement must provide for notification to emergency service personnel.  If you block crossings as described you may want to get going on an agreement to meet the August 1 effective date.

            HB 1486, Wheat Commission checkoff, has been signed by the Governor.  This one was amended by the Senate, as reported in the Legislative Bulletin of March 21, and the House acceded, although not enthusiastically, to the amendments.  The checkoff stays the same at one cent per bushel. 

            HB 1197, the credit sale contract indemnity fund, has been signed by the Governor.  Same for HB 1291 on sale of abandoned railroad right of way, HB 1352 on anhydrous theft, and SB 2407 on legal weight of fertilizer spreaders and chemical applicators.

            Still in limbo is SB 2008, the Public Service Commission’s budget and money to begin investigation into a formal rail rate complaint.  The House had cut the Senate-passed $250,000 down to $200,000 and specified that the other $50,000 had to be collected from private sources before any of the $200,000 could be spent.  This puts PSC in a fund-raiser role.  A conference committee has met three times and reports are that it is moving toward a compromise in the direction of a Senate version.  But it ain’t over ‘til it’s over. 

            Public Service Commissioner Tony Clark is in Washington, DC today presenting testimony on behalf of the Commission, Grain Dealers and Wheat Commission in a Surface Transportation Board proceeding regarding Rail Rate Challenges in small cases.