BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1255|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1255
Author: Tom Berryhill (R)
Amended: 7/14/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE FOOD AND AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE : 5-0, 7/7/09
AYES: Florez, Maldonado, Hancock, Hollingsworth, Pavley
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 12-0, 8/17/09
AYES: Kehoe, Cox, Corbett, Denham, Hancock, Leno, Oropeza,
Price, Runner, Walters, Wolk, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 5/18/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Agricultural seed: county seed enforcement
subventions
SOURCE : California Seed Association
DIGEST : This bill extends the sunset date for county
subventions for seed enforcement from January 1, 2010 to
January 1, 2015.
ANALYSIS : The California Seed Law (CSL) was created in
1967 to ensure product accuracy for seeds and seed
labeling. In 1973, the Seed Advisory Board was created and
charged with enforcing standards in the seed industry, with
the industry covering the costs of the program. These
standards provide consumer protection by providing
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germination and purity requirements and labeling standards
for each package.
To insure the integrity and quality of both the seeds and
their labels, the legislature empowered the county
agricultural commissioners with enforcing many of the
provisions of the CSL. The Department of Food and
Agriculture (CDFA) pays counties an annual subvention of
$120,000 for costs incurred in the enforcement of the CSL.
Counties choosing to participate in this program receive
subvention funds based on units of enforcement activity
generated by the registered seed labeler operations and
enforcement performance as determined by the Secretary of
CDFA. At the discretion of CDFA, counties with no
registered seed labelers may receive $100. The annual
assessment cannot exceed $0.40 per $100 of sales.
This subvention program providing funding to counties for
CSL enforcement will sunset on January 1, 2010. CDFA's
administrative reimbursement and annual subvention to
counties for costs incurred in the enforcement will sunset
on July 1, 2009.
AB 856 (Parra), Chapter 425, Statutes of 2008, allowed the
CDFA to not distribute to counties that do not have
registered seed labelers the required minimum $100 seed
subvention funds. It also extended the sunset from July 1,
2009 to January 1, 2010.
This bill:
1. Extends the sunset date for county subvention funds for
seed law enforcement from 2010 to 2015.
2. Also extends the sunset date from July 1, 2009 to
January 1, 2015 for another section of code dealing with
seed subvention funds and deals with the costs of
administering the chapter which includes a requirement
to pay in arrears $120,000 to counties for enforcement
and subvention cooperative agreement which outlines
county agriculture and CDFA interaction on subvention
funds.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
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Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11
2011-12 Fund
Sunset extension No costs; $120 in subventions
to counties Special*
* Food and Agriculture Fund
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/19/09)
California Seed Association (source)
California Agricultural Commissioners & Sealers Association
Regional Council of Rural Counties
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Proponents of this bill state seed
subvention funds provide counties with a source of revenue
from the seed industry to cover a portion of their costs
for enforcing the CSL. Seed subvention funds also provide
county agricultural commissioners with the ability to
quickly respond to seed inspection needs and keep current
with testing and sampling procedures.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,
Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick,
Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Krekorian, Lieu, Logue,
Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava,
Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel
Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Silva, Skinner, Smyth,
Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres,
Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, Bass
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NO VOTE RECORDED: Eng, Knight, Price, Saldana
TSM:mw 8/19/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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