BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1894
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Date of Hearing: April 13, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
1894 (Committee on Agriculture) - As Amended March 1, 2016
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill modifies the Citrus Program (CP) late payment process,
and clarifies subject areas of Dairy Marketing Branch (DMB)
educational and research efforts. In summary, this bill:
1)Changes the CP late payment date to be the last day of the
month following the month when the commodities were received
rather than the 10th day of the month following the assessment
AB 1894
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due date.
2)Clarifies that citrus handlers are responsible for the payment
of assessments and inspection fees associated with CP.
3)Defines, as it relates to milk and dairy products marketing,
educational and research activities to mean any effort to
develop and improve the management practices of dairy
producers and processors, including, but not limited to,
practices associated with the environmental sustainability of
land, air quality, and water quality.
4)Allows CDFA to fund educational and research activities.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)The CP provisions would result in minor and absorbable costs
to the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to
coordinate payment processes.
2)The DMB provisions would not result in any additional state
costs.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose and background on citrus provisions. Under existing
law, the CP and the Standardization Program (SP), which
establishes minimum standards for all fresh fruits, nuts, and
vegetables, have different dates when late penalty payments
begin accruing. Language governing the CP late payment
schedule is also ambiguous and has recently caused confusion.
AB 1894
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AB 1894 would bring the CP assessments and penalty payments in
line with the SP process.
2)Purpose and background on milk and dairy provisions. Existing
law authorizes the Dairy marketing Branch (DMB) of CDFA to
provide education and research activities for the dairy
industry. The broad interpretation of this statutory mandate
is that the CDFA may use this authority to fund environmental
research projects. However, the ambiguous nature of the
language does bring into question the legality of the
continued use of DMB funds for this purpose.
Analysis Prepared by:Luke Reidenbach / APPR. / (916)
319-2081