House Bill 1026 Summary

• Converts public warehouse and grain buyer licenses from biennial (two-year) to annual licensing periods, with initial licenses for new operations lasting up to six years before transitioning to annual renewal.

• Restructures license fees based on dollar value of grain purchased rather than storage capacity, with tiered pricing: $400 (up to $1M), $800 ($1M-$10M), and $1,200 (over $10M) for both warehouses and grain buyers.

• Increases bond requirements from $5,000 to $100,000 for public warehousemen and from $10,000 to $100,000 for grain buyers, with amounts based on grain purchase value.

• Adds new financial criteria requirements for applicants including criminal background checks, satisfactory credit scores, and verification of net worth and working capital; requires annual financial reporting for businesses purchasing up to $10 million in grain.

• Reduces scale ticket conversion period from 45 to 30 days and establishes that producers forfeiting timely conversion lose trust fund and credit-sale contract protections; allows warehousemen to waive conversion requirements with signed forms.