BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                        AB 732|
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                                   THIRD READING 


          Bill No:  AB 732
          Author:   Cooper (D), et al.
          Amended:  7/8/15 in Senate
          Vote:     21  

           SENATE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE:  3-0, 6/30/15
           AYES:  Galgiani, Cannella, Pan
           NO VOTE RECORDED:  Berryhill, Wolk

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE:  Senate Rule 28.8

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  77-0, 5/7/15 (Consent) - See last page for  
            vote

           SUBJECT:   Cattle protection: brands: inspection: fees


          SOURCE:   California Farm Bureau Federation 
                    Milk Producers Council 

          
          DIGEST:  This bill exempts cattle from brand inspection when  
          sold or ownership is transferred when all of the following  
          apply: the entity with a controlling interest does not change,  
          the cattle remain within California or the point-of-origin  
          inspection area, and the cattle are associated with a registered  
          brand or dairy exemption number.  This bill also increases  
          specified related fees for brand registration and cattle  
          inspection by approximately 20%.

          ANALYSIS:  

          Existing law:








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          1)Authorizes the California Department of Food and Agriculture  
            (CDFA), through the Bureau of Livestock Identification, to  
            administer and enforce laws and regulations that would protect  
            cattle from theft and misappropriation in California.

          2)Authorizes CDFA to regulate and record brands that establish  
            or indicate cattle ownership, as specified.

          3)Establishes the Livestock Identification Advisory Board to  
            make recommendations to the secretary of CDFA in regards to  
            administration and enforcement of brand laws and regulations  
            and the annual budget for the Bureau of Livestock  
            Identification.  Advisory board members are appointed by the  
            secretary and consist of cattle producers, dairymen, persons  
            engaged in livestock marketing, operators of feedlots, and a  
            member of the public.

          4)Authorizes CDFA to collect fees and penalties regarding cattle  
            identification, including, but not limited to:

             a)   $60 per brand registration, renewal, or transfer.
             b)   $1.05 per animal inspected, with exceptions.
             c)   $1.44 per carcass or hide inspected, with exceptions.

          5)Authorizes CDFA to increase cattle inspection fees up to 20%  
            of the statutory fee upon recommendation of the Livestock  
            Identification Advisory Board (Food and Agricultural Code  
            §20760 and 21291).  

          6)Requires fees and penalties collected pursuant to cattle  
            protection to be deposited in the Department of Food and  
            Agriculture Fund and used for the administration and  
            enforcement of cattle protection provisions.

          7)Provides for civil and criminal penalties for persons in  
            violation of cattle branding laws.  Provides penalties for  
            livestock grand theft, punishable by a fee of $5,000 and/or  
            imprisonment for up to one year (Penal Code §489).

          This bill:

          1)Exempts cattle from a brand inspection when sold or ownership  
            transferred under all of the following circumstances:







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             a)   The controlling interest remains unchanged.
             b)   Cattle will remain within California or the  
               point-of-origin inspection area.
             c)   Cattle are associated with a registered brand or dairy  
               exemption number.

          2)Requires cattle owners, within 30 days of ownership transfer,  
            to self-certify their ownership on a CDFA-issued form.

          3)Authorizes CDFA to charge a fee, not to exceed $50, to cover  
            the reasonable costs of processing the form.

          4)Makes violations of the above provisions subject to civil  
            penalties currently in law for violations of cattle inspection  
            provisions.

          5)Increases specified related fees for brand registration and  
            cattle inspection by approximately 20%.

          Background
          
          The CDFA Bureau of Livestock Identification is responsible for  
          the administration and enforcement of cattle protection by  
          issuing brand registration certificates and conducting  
          inspections.  Generally, inspections are required when cattle  
          are sold, transported, have a transfer of ownership, and before  
          entering a feedlot or slaughterhouse.  Funding for this program  
          is entirely supported through registration and inspection fees.   
          (Food and Agricultural Code §20001 et seq.). 

          Comments


          Need for this bill.  Supporters of this bill provided the Senate  
          Agriculture Committee with a recent example of a dairy farm  
          owner who wanted to add his son as a minority partner.  This  
          required the dairy to be changed from a sole proprietorship to a  
          general partnership.  Under current law, this change is  
          considered a change in ownership and triggers a brand inspection  
          by the Bureau of Livestock Identification, even though the  
          majority owner, business name, location, and herd remain the  
          same.  This bill provides an exemption from brand inspection for  
          cattle whose ownership is transferred in such a manner.  At  







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          $1.05 per animal, a brand inspection can be unnecessarily  
          costly.  

          Fees. Existing law authorizes CDFA to increase cattle inspection  
          and registration fees up to 20%.  On August 28, 2014, the  
          Livestock Identification Advisory Board passed a motion to  
          increase several of these fees, many of which are at or near the  
          maximum 20% increase.  In order for the program to remain  
          effective, this bill increases the current fees in code to that  
          which is currently charged by CDFA, while maintaining existing  
          authority for CDFA to increase fees by another 20%.  These fees  
          were last increased in statute in 2006 (AB 2332, Committee on  
          Agriculture, Chapter 568; brand inspection fees) and 2007 (AB  
          472, Committee on Agriculture, Chapter 267; registration and  
          hide inspection fees).  Prior to that, the last statutory fee  
          increase was established in 1991.

          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    Yes         Fiscal  
          Com.:YesLocal:   Yes

          SUPPORT:   (Verified8/18/15)


          California Farm Bureau Federation (co-source)
          Milk Producers Council (co-source)
          California Cattlemen's Association
          California Chamber of Commerce


          OPPOSITION:   (Verified8/18/15)


          None received

          ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT:  According to the author, "California's  
          farm families that raise dairy and beef cattle face increasing  
          economic pressures to remain competitive.  Passing on these  
          family farms and ranches is becoming increasingly difficult.   
          There are many factors contributing to the loss of family farms  
          and ranches and it is important that California works to reduce  
          unnecessary impediments to passing farms and ranches onto the  
          next generation.  AB 732 would clarify that no inspection is  
          necessary when the controlling interest of the farm or ranch  
          does not change and the cattle are not being moved out of state  







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          or out of a modified point-of-origin inspection area.  This  
          clarification will reduce costs to families working to maintain  
          their farms and bring on the next generation to continue  
          California's successful farming tradition."

          ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  77-0, 5/7/15
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,  
            Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Chang, Chau,  
            Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly,  
            Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina  
            Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,  
            Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Holden, Irwin, Jones,  
            Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,  
            Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,  
            Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,  
            Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark  
            Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams,  
            Wood, Atkins
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Campos, Roger Hernández, Steinorth

          Prepared by:Anne Megaro / AGRI. / (916) 651-1508
          8/18/15 16:54:10


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