BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 732|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 732
Author: Cooper (D), et al.
Amended: 8/19/15 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%.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/19/15 add a coauthor and make other
technical amendments.
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Page 2
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
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:
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1)Exempts cattle from a brand inspection when sold or ownership
transferred under all of the following circumstances:
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
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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
$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: (Verified8/19/15)
California Farm Bureau Federation (co-source)
Milk Producers Council (co-source)
California Cattlemen's Association
California Chamber of Commerce
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/19/15)
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
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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
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
8/21/15 10:39:31
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