BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1389| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1389 Author: Assembly Agriculture Committee Amended: 6/10/13 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE : 4-0, 7/2/13 AYES: Galgiani, Cannella, Berryhill, Wolk NO VOTE RECORDED: Lieu SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8 ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-0, 5/23/13 (Consent) - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Agriculture SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill amends the number of members appointed to the Shell Egg Advisory Committee (SEAC) and allows for the San Joaquin Valley Quality Cotton District (District) to become inoperative, as specified. This bill also amends the California Asparagus Commission (CAC) to remove the use of geographical districts, consecutive term limits for members, and deletes provisions allowing the CAC to function as a corporation. ANALYSIS : SEAC was established in 1972 to advise the Secretary of the Department of Food and Agriculture (DFA) on matters pertaining to standards for shell eggs including quality, sampling, inspection, fees, and enforcement of all CONTINUED AB 1389 Page 2 related laws and regulations. In 2002, AB 2981 (Assembly Agriculture Committee, Chapter 535, Statutes of 2002) amended the duties of the SEAC to include components of the Egg Quality Assurance Plan, a voluntary, industry-driven food safety program developed in cooperation with DFA, United States Department of Agriculture, University of California Cooperative Extension and several other state and federal government entities. The District (formerly known as the One-Variety Cotton District) was established in 1926 to promote, encourage, aid, and protect the planting and growing of high-quality cotton in the state of California. Only two varieties of cotton may be grown, Pima and Acala, to avoid cross-pollination in the field that could degrade the quality of cotton grown in the district. The District consists of Fresno, Madera, Merced, Kern, Kings, and Tulare counties. DFA and county agricultural commissioners are responsible for enforcement of these provisions and related regulations, which are funded by industry assessment fees. Marketing programs provides for the creation of marketing programs within the California Food and Agriculture Code, Division 22. The Legislature "finds and declares that the agricultural and seafood industries are vitally important elements of the state's economy and are supported by state established commissions and councils specified in this division that are mandated to enhance and preserve the economic interests of the State of California." There are currently 16 active commissions in California, all of which are governed by boards of directors and overseen by the DFA. These commissions were created to enhance their industries by investing in promotion, advertising, education, marketing research, scientific research, and the creation and regulation of quality standards. The CAC was established in 1991 to engage in the production and marketing of asparagus in California through advertising, promotion, and research. The CAC is divided into two districts which separate northern and southern counties to ensure proper representation by producers when electing commission members. An assessment fee is collected from growers to fund operating and enforcement costs of these provisions. This bill: CONTINUED AB 1389 Page 3 1. Increases to 10 the number of appointed members of the SEAC. Eight members shall be representatives of the egg industry, one nonvoting member from the California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association, and one shall be a public member. 2. Adds provisions to allow the District to become inoperative, on or after January 1, 2014, unless a resolution is approved or the Secretary of DFA receives a petition from members of the cotton industry and determines that continued operation of specified provisions of this chapter is in the best interest of the industry and the state. 3. Authorizes the Secretary to establish a cotton advisory committee. The committee shall be composed of cotton growers, handlers, and representatives of cotton ginning organizations. 4. Provides that the Secretary shall not be required to administer any provision of this chapter unless sufficient funds generated for purposes of this chapter are available. 5. Removes the use of "districts" within the CAC and allows the CAC to reduce the number of producers who serve on CAC with a two-thirds vote. 6. Removes the limit on consecutive terms for CAC members. 7. Deletes provisions allowing CAC to function as a corporate body. 8. Makes technical and conforming changes. Prior Legislation AB 2981 (Assembly Agriculture Committee, Chapter 535, Statutes of 2002) allows the SEAC to advise the Secretary of DFA on components of the Egg Quality Assurance Plan. SB 565 (Florez, Chapter 236, Statutes of 2003) increases the maximum assessment fee on cottonseed delinted for planting purposes from $4 to $6 per hundredweight. These funds are used to support the activities of the District. CONTINUED AB 1389 Page 4 AB 1913 (Fuller, Chapter 189, Statutes of 2008) reduces the number of board members for the District, defines cotton growers, and makes other technical and conforming changes. AB 3099 (Waters, Chapter 1058, Statutes of 1990) creates the CAC with prescribed membership, powers, duties, and responsibilities of the commission. Authorizes the CAC to engage in development, maintenance, and expansion of markets, marketing research, advertising, promotion, and research relating to asparagus. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 8/9/13) California Asparagus Commission California Cotton Ginners Association California Cotton Growers Association Pacific Egg and Poultry Association ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "Cotton acreage over the last 20 years has dropped from over 1.1 million acres to less than 200,000 acres. With less acreage, the potential for cross contamination has been reduced and the need for the District statutes lessened? Due to prudent budgeting and reserves, the District has sufficient funds to operate at this reduced acreage level for several years. Therefore, making the statute inoperative should not create problems in the District while reducing the financial burden on cotton producers." In regards to the Shell Egg Advisory Committee, the author states that this bill would "increase the number of industry members from six to eight, with the goal to represent facets of the industry not currently represented such as out of state egg handlers and egg product producers." ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-0, 5/23/13 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom, Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor, CONTINUED AB 1389 Page 5 Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez NO VOTE RECORDED: Grove, Holden, Jones, Waldron, Vacancy, Vacancy JL:k 8/13/13 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED