BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE FOOD and AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE
Senator Dean Florez, Chairman
BILL NO: SB 2 HEARING: 4/21/09
AUTHOR: Wiggins FISCAL: Yes
VERSION: 03/19/09 CONSULTANT: John Chandler
Pest control: Pierce's disease: glassy-winged sharpshooter.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
In the late 1990s, Pierce's Disease, which has been present in
California for more than 100 years, threatened to cause sizable
damage to grapes due to the arrival of the Glassy-winged
Sharpshooter. The Glassy-winged Sharpshooter carries the
bacterium Xylella fastidiosa, which causes Pierce's Disease in
grapes, almonds, oleander, and citrus fruits. The insect feeds
on a plant's water producing elements. When a plant develops
Pierce's Disease, its ability to draw in moisture is hindered
and the plant will either die or become unproductive.
In response to this threat to the grape industry, the
Legislature enacted a legislative package that eventually
resulted in the creation of an advisory task force on the
Pierce's Disease issue in 1999. In 2000, the Pierce's Disease
Control Program was created: a partnership between California
Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), County Agriculture
Commissioners, United States Department of Agriculture,
University of California, local agencies, industry, and
agriculture organizations to combat the spread and find
solutions for Pierce's Disease and the Glassy-winged
Sharpshooter.
SB 1650 (Chapter 485, Statutes of 2004) made various technical
and substantive changes to the Pierce's Disease Control Program.
The bill added a referendum process for the continuance of the
program and its related assessments to be approved by a majority
of the referendum participants, clarified that proprietary
information submitted to CDFA is confidential, and prohibited
the dissemination of judicial proceedings involving such
information to the public or third parties during the
proceedings.
SB 295 (Chapter 12, Statutes of 2005) ensures that proprietary
information collected for the Pierce's Disease Control Program
and used in a court proceeding shall not be disseminated during
or after the court proceedings. It also eliminates
reimbursement to the county for election costs associated with
petitions to organize districts to respond to and distribute
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information about the spread of the Glassy-winged Sharpshooter
and Pierce's Disease. The bill also states that the Advisory
Task Force would remain in effect until March 1, 2011,
regardless of the termination dates or other portions of the
Pierce's Disease Control Program.
PROPOSED LAW
Senate Bill 2 will do the following:
Remove the requirement that state general fund money may
only be utilized for Pierce's Disease Control Program
research when there are commitments of at least 25%
matching funds from non-state sources.
Extend the sunset date for the program five years, from
March 1, 2011 to March 1, 2016.
Require starting April 15, 2010, CDFA to conduct a wine
grape industry referendum on the Pierce's Disease Control
Program. Should the referendum fail a vote of all grape
producers, processors, and any person paying an assessment,
the Pierce's Disease Control Program will sunset effective
March 1, 2011.
Authorize, with the recommendation of the Pierce's
Disease and Glassy-winged Sharpshooter Board, the
expenditure of Pierce's Disease Control Program funding on
any pests or diseases so long as the pests present a threat
to the California grape industry, would damage the
California agriculture economy, and the expenditure would
not diminish the current funding for Pierce's disease and
its vectors.
COMMENTS
1.According to the author's office the Pierce's Disease Control
Program has proven to be a very successful effort to control
the spread of Pierce's Disease and the Glassy-winged
Sharpshooter. While the program is due to sunset in 2011, the
disease and the threat of its spread still remains. By
extending the sunset date, the Pierce's Disease Control
Program can continue to combat the spread of Pierce's Disease
and the Glassy-winged Sharpshooter.
Supporters of SB 2 state that the great intergovernmental and
industry coordination through the Pierce's Disease Control
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Program has proven an excellent model for pest control
programs. By extending the research funding of the program to
include other significant pests and diseases threatening
California grape growers, California will be able to build on
the success of the Pierce's Disease Control Program to combat
other significant pests to California grapes.
2.The Pierce's Disease Control Program has proven itself as a
very successful control program combining federal, state and
industry efforts. Given the great success, SB 2 would propose
using some of the excess research funding on other pests
threatening California's grape industry. If the other
designated pests and diseases are identified as much of a
threat to the grape industry as Pierce's Disease, would they
not warrant their own program for control and research rather
than using money from the Pierce's Disease Control Program?
3.The success of the Pierce's Disease Control Program has been a
poster child of intergovernmental and industry cooperation and
effectiveness. It would be understandable to build on the
success of the Pierce's Disease Control Program by increasing
the scope and range of pests and diseases which the program
may research. However, the more designated pests and diseases
added to the research burden the broader the responsibility of
each research dollar of the program. The committee may want
to consider whether we would be "killing the goose that laid
the golden egg" by broadening the pest and disease research
funding commitments beyond the goal of the program of just
Pierce's Disease control.
SUPPORT
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
California Agriculture Commissioners & Sealers Association
California Association of Winegrape Growers
Family Winemakers of California
Wine Institute
OPPOSITION
None received