BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                            SENATE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE
                         Senator Anthony Cannella, Chairman

          BILL NO:    SB 707                    HEARING:  05/03/11
          AUTHOR:   Cannella                    FISCAL:  Yes
          VERSION:  02/18/11                    CONSULTANT:  John Chandler
          
                          Agricultural special assessments.

          BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW

          The Fruit Tree, Nut Tree and Grapevine Improvement Advisory 
          Board (IAB) was created by the legislature in 1988.  The primary 
          purpose of the board is to conduct research to further  
          the interests of the industry.  The IAB is funded by an industry 
          assessment of 1% of gross sales on all deciduous pome and stone 
          fruit trees, nut trees, and grapevines including seeds, 
          seedlings, rootstocks and topstock.  

          The Secretary of California Department of Food and Agriculture 
          (CDFA), upon consultation with the industry, appoints an IAB 
          board to provide assistance concerning the implementation of 
          this program.  The board consists of 11 members serving two-year 
          terms, with a maximum of three consecutive terms. 

          The University of California, Davis is the home of the 
          Foundation Plant Services (FPS) program.  The FPS produces, 
          tests, maintains and distributes to California nurseries 
          foundation-level plant materials that are disease-free, 
          virus-tested and certified as true-to-type. CDFA participates in 
          the cooperative oversight of the FPS program with United States 
          Department of Agriculture and the industry.  Much of the funds 
          from the IAB is used in support of the FPS program.

          PROPOSED LAW

          SB 707 would include olive trees in the existing 1% gross sales 
          fee assessment and extend the membership of the advisory board 
          to representatives from the olive industry.

          COMMENTS

          1.Supporters of SB 707 state that adding olives to the 
            Foundation Plant Services program  would provide California 
            nurseries with plant materials that are disease-free and 
            certified as true-to-type.  Over the past five years olive oil 
            plantings have grown toward the largest in state history.  
            Further, the addition of olives to the IAB would allow the 
            study of diseases such as verticillium wilt, which has 




          SB 707 - Page 2


            prevented olives from being planted in large areas of the 
            Central Valley.  The inclusion of olive trees in the IAB will 
            help ensure that nurseries and olive farmers have certified 
            disease-free trees and that California will have a healthy 
            olive industry.

          2.Current law allows the Secretary of CDFA to exempt certain 
            species from the assessment.  In the current bill, only 
            ornamental varieties of olive trees would be eligible for the 
            exemption.  The committee may wish to consider if the 
            Secretary of CDFA should have the ability to exempt 
            non-ornamental varieties of olive trees.


          SUPPORT
          
          Duarte Nursery
          Santa Cruz Olive Tree Nursery
          Sunridge Nurseries
          Vintage Nurseries

          OPPOSITION
          
          None received