BILL NUMBER: AB 2504	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 15, 2016
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 31, 2016

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:  assessments: alfalfa seed producers.  
alfalfa seed subcommittee: assessments: alfalfa hay producers. 
   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  producers
  sold in the state  to fund research to benefit
the alfalfa  seed   forage  industry. 
   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. 
   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.   (a)    The board may advise the
secretary and make recommendations to assess alfalfa seed 
producers   sold in this state  to fund research to
benefit the alfalfa  seed   forage 
industry. 
   (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.  
   (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. 

   (d) The alfalfa seed subcommittee shall be comprised of nine
members as follows:  
   (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.
 
   (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.  
   (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.
 
   (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.  
   (5) One public member. 
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