BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó





          SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                             Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
                            2015 - 2016  Regular  Session

          SB 1270 (Galgiani) - Diseased animals and poultry:  regulation:   
          fee schedule
          
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          |Version: February 18, 2016      |Policy Vote: AGRI. 5 - 0        |
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          |Urgency: No                     |Mandate: No                     |
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          |Hearing Date: May 9, 2016       |Consultant: Robert Ingenito     |
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          This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the  
          Suspense File.







          Bill  
          Summary: SB 1270 would extend the sunset date from January 1,  
          2017 to January 1, 2022 for the California Department of Food  
          and Agriculture (CDFA) to establish a fee schedule to recover  
          the reasonable costs associated with animal health services that  
          do not provide a benefit beyond the payer.


          Fiscal  








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          Impact: CDFA notes that it has yet to ever exercise this fee  
          authority. Consequently, no revenue has ever been collected. The  
          bill would not impact CDFA's administrative costs. 


          Background:  CDFA's Animal Health Branch (AHB) focuses on protecting  
          livestock populations from devastating diseases that require  
          statewide coordination. AHB investigates known or suspected  
          cases of specified diseases, conducts animal disease  
          surveillance and traceability programs, and prepares and  
          executes emergency response planning. Examples of disease  
          surveillance programs include tuberculosis, brucellosis, bovine  
          spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease), and avian diseases.  
          AHB also permits and monitors over 2 million animals entering  
          California annually. 


          Proposed Law:  
           This bill would extend the sunset date for five years, to  
          January 1, 2022, for CDFA to establish a fee schedule to recover  
          the reasonable costs associated with animal health services that  
          do not provide a benefit to others beyond the payer.


          Related  
          Legislation: AB 120 (Committee on Budget), Chapter 133, Statutes  
          of 2011.  The budget trailer bill, among other provisions,  
          authorizes CDFA, until January 1, 2017, to establish a fee  
          schedule to recover the reasonable costs associated with animal  
          health services that do not provide a benefit beyond the payer.  
          The fee may not exceed $500 for each license, permit,  
          registration, product, or service.  


          Staff  
          Comments: CDFA's General Fund budget was reduced by roughly $30  
          million, or one-third, in 2011-12. CDFA was directed to convene  
          meetings with agricultural stakeholders to find solutions to  
          limit the need for state resources. Toward that end, a budget  
          trailer bill (AB 120, 2011) authorized CDFA to seek  
          reimbursement for services where the service only benefits the  
          payee and not the public in general. 
          Under current law, CDFA's fee authority would sunset on January  
          1, 2017. The bill would extend CDFA's fee authority for five  
          years to recover the reasonable costs associated with animal  







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          health services that do not provide a "public good." For  
          example, in some remote areas of the State, there are no private  
          veterinarians certified by CDFA to do specific regulated work,  
          such as test cattle for tuberculosis or administer a vaccine for  
          brucellosis.  In these instances, the only veterinary service  
          available in the area is a CDFA field veterinarian. These cattle  
          are not suspected of contracting these diseases and these  
          services are not related to an outbreak or emergency response.  
          This bill would allow CDFA to continue to seek reimbursement to  
          cover the costs of these services. 


          Extending the sunset date of the existing statute would have no  
          fiscal impact to CDFA. The department has never exercised this  
          authority and as a result, has never collected revenue since its  
          inception.


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