BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 1255
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 29, 2009

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Kevin De Leon, Chair

             AB 1255 (Tom Berryhill) - As Introduced:  February 27, 2009 

          Policy Committee:                              AgricultureVote:8  
          - 0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill extends the sunset on county subventions for  
          enforcement contained within the California Seed Law (CSL) from  
          January 1, 2010 to January 1, 2015. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Currently, the California Department of Food and Agriculture  
          (CDFA) sends $120,000 per year to California's counties in order  
          to fund the enforcement of the CSL provisions.  CDFA estimates  
          that without those annual subventions they would need  
          approximately $500,000 per year for the staffing needs  
          associated with enforcing the CSL at the state level. 

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  . This bill extends the county subventions for  
            enforcement of the CSL.  The intent of this legislation is to  
            ensure the CSL continues to be enforced in a cost effective  
            manner.  CDFA notes that failure to pass AB 1255 would result  
            in an end to the statutory authorization for seed subvention.   
            If counties do not receive funds to offset seed law  
            enforcement activities, counties are unlikely to enforce  
            provisions of the California Seed Law.  As a consequence, CDFA  
            would then need to hire more staff to monitor seed related  
            activities in counties. 

           2)Background  . The California Seed Law is designed to ensure that  
            seeds purchased by the consumer are properly identified and of  
            the quality represented on the tag or label.  The enforcement  
            program provides third-party seed inspections to monitor the  








                                                                  AB 1255
                                                                  Page  2

            accuracy of label statements as to variety and type, purity,  
            and germination.  These enforcement activities are carried out  
            by individual county agricultural commissioners.

           3)Related Legislation  . AB 856 (Galgiani; Chapter 425, Statutes  
            of 2008) eliminated the minimum $100 seed identification and  
            quality subvention allocated to each county and gives the  
            Secretary of  CDFA the discretion of whether or not to provide  
            the minimum $100 subvention to a county that has no registered  
            seed labelers.

            AB 315 (Salinas; Chapter 349, Statutes of 2003) extended the  
            sunset on the seed identification and quality subvention  
            program by five years to July 1, 2009 and set the statewide  
            subvention amount at $120,000.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081