Amended in Senate June 15, 2016

Amended in Assembly March 31, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2504

Introduced by Committee on Agriculture (Assembly Members Dodd (Chair), Gallagher (Vice Chair), Gray, Grove, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Mathis, Quirk, and Salas)

February 19, 2016

An act to add Section 52296.5 to the Food and Agricultural Code, relating to seed.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2504, as amended, Committee on Agriculture. Seed Advisory Board: begin delete assessments: alfalfa seed producers. end delete begin insert alfalfa seed subcommittee: assessments: alfalfa hay producers. end insert

Existing law establishes the Seed Advisory Board to advise the Secretary of Food and Agriculture and make recommendations on matters pertaining to the California Seed Law, and requires the board to be advisory on the scope of the program funded by industry and recommend the dollar volume assessments that, when combined with registration fees, provide adequate funds to support the program.

This bill would authorize the board to advise the secretary and make recommendations to assess alfalfa seed begin delete producers end delete begin insert sold in the state end insert to fund research to benefit the alfalfa begin delete seed end delete begin insert forage end insert industry.

begin insert

The bill would authorize the board to recommend that the secretary impose an assessment of up to $0.10 per pound of alfalfa seed sold and, if the board recommends an assessment, would require the secretary to appoint an alfalfa seed subcommittee comprised of 9 members, as specified, to advise the secretary on funding alfalfa research benefitting the alfalfa forage industry with the proceeds of the assessments collected.

end insert

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 52296.5 is added to the Food and
Agricultural Code, to read:

52296.5.  

begin insert (a) end insert begin insert   end insert The board may advise the secretary and make
recommendations to assess alfalfa seed begin delete producers end delete begin insert sold in this state end insert
to fund research to benefit the alfalfa begin delete seed end delete begin insert forage end insert industry.

begin insert

(b) Notwithstanding Section 52354, the board may recommend
that the secretary assess alfalfa hay producers an amount not to
exceed ten cents ($0.10) per pound of alfalfa seed sold by the
producer to fund research to benefit the alfalfa forage industry.

end insert begin insert

(c) If the board recommends imposing an assessment on alfalfa
hay producers pursuant to subdivision (b), the secretary shall
appoint an alfalfa seed subcommittee to advise the secretary on
funding alfalfa research benefitting the alfalfa forage industry
with the proceeds of the assessments collected pursuant to the
recommendation.

end insert begin insert

(d) The alfalfa seed subcommittee shall be comprised of nine
members as follows:

end insert begin insert

(1) Two alfalfa hay producers from the Intermountain region
made up of the counties of Alpine, Del Norte, Humboldt, Inyo,
Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Mono, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra,
Siskyou, and Trinity.

end insert begin insert

(2) Two alfalfa hay producers from the North Central Region
made up of the Counties of Alameda, Amador, Butte, Calaveras,
Colusa, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Glenn, Lake, Marin, Napa,
Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San
Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus,
Sutter, Tehama, Tuolumne, Yolo, and Yuba.

end insert begin insert

(3) Two alfalfa hay producers from the South Central Region
made up of the Counties of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera,
Mariposa, Merced, Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa
Barbara, and Tulare.

end insert begin insert

(4) Two alfalfa hay producers from the Southern Region made
up of the Counties of Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside,
San Bernardino, San Diego, and Ventura.

end insert begin insert

(5) One public member.

end insert

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CORRECTIONS:

Digest--Page 1.

Text--Page 2.

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