BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                            SENATE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE
                         Senator Anthony Cannella, Chairman

          BILL NO:    SB 1415                   HEARING:  04/17/12
          AUTHOR:   Wolk                        FISCAL:  Yes
          VERSION:  02/24/12                    CONSULTANT:  John Chandler
          
                     Olive trees: annual assessment: exemptions.

          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, olive trees and grapevines including 
          seeds, seedlings, rootstocks and topstock.    Existing law 
          allows the Secretary of the CDFA to exempt certain species of 
          pome and stone fruit trees, nut trees, olive trees, grapevines, 
          or ornamental varieties from the assessment

          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 the United States 
          Department of Agriculture and the industry.  Certain funds from 
          the IAB are used in support of the FPS program.

          SB 707 (Cannella), Chapter 343, Statues of 2011, includes olive 
          trees in the existing one percent gross sales fee assessment and 
          extends the membership of the Fruit Tree, Nut Tree and Grapevine 
          Improvement Advisory Board to representatives from the olive 
          industry.

          PROPOSED LAW

          SB 1415 would specify that the Secretary of CDFA may exempt 
          varieties of olive trees from the one percent assessment if the 
          assessment does not provide any benefit to the varieties.

          COMMENTS

          1.According to the author's office, this bill will clarify the 
            statute to allow the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to 
            exclude olive trees that produce table olives.  This bill is a 
            technical clean-up of SB 707 (Cannella), Chapter 343 Statues 




          SB 1415 - Page 2


            of 2011 which received unanimous support in Senate Agriculture 
            Committee last year.

          2.The same language in SB 1415 (Wolk) was amended on March 29, 
            2012 into AB 2682 (Agriculture) which is the Assembly 
            agriculture omnibus bill. According to the author, this issue 
            is important and may possibly amend the bill to also address 
            olive oil standards and marketing.  

          SUPPORT
          
          None received

          OPPOSITION
          
          None received