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
SB 1270 (Galgiani) Page 1 of
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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
SB 1270 (Galgiani) Page 2 of
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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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