BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 348
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 14, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
Susan Talamantes Eggman, Chair
SB 348 (Galgiani) - As Amended: August 7, 2013
SENATE VOTE : 38-0
SUBJECT : Agricultural seed: county seed enforcement
subventions.
SUMMARY : Extends the provisions and repeal dates of the
California Seed Law (CSL) and county subventions, until July 1,
2016 and January 1, 2017, respectfully.
EXISTING LAW permits the California Department of Food and
Agriculture (CDFA) to pay counties annually for the costs
incurred in the enforcement of CSL by the county commissioners.
These payments are made to the counties at the discretion of
CDFA and upon the recommendation of the Seed Advisory Board, and
those counties without activities may receive $100.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to Senate Appropriations Committee,
CDFA sends $120,000 per year (special funds) to California's
counties in order to fund the enforcement of the CSL provisions.
COMMENTS : The CSL was enacted in 1967 to ensure that
agricultural seed is properly and accurately identified on the
product label. Seed is analyzed through the Seed Services
program, administered by CDFA. The CSL is locally enforced by
county agricultural commissioners who enter into cooperative
agreements with CDFA and agree to maintain a statewide
compliance level on all seed sold in the county. In return,
county agricultural commissioners receive annual subvention
payments for expenses incurred in association with approved
enforcement work plans.
Funding for this program is through industry seed assessments
and registration fees, and is administered by CDFA. Every
labeler of agricultural seed offered for sale in California, or
any person who sells that seed in this state, must annually
register as a seed labeler and pay an annual fee of $40. In
addition, those who are registered seed labelers must also pay
an assessment capped at 40 cents per $100 gross annual dollar
volume sales. CDFA determines the rate of assessment, not to
SB 348
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exceed the department's cost of carrying out these provisions.
CDFA allocates $120,000 for subvention payments among all
counties for costs incurred by enforcement of the CSL. At the
discretion of CDFA and upon recommendation of the Seed Advisory
Board (SAB), counties with no registered seed labelers may
annually receive $100, while counties with registered seed
labelers receive subventions based upon the volume of work
performed.
Currently, there are 13 counties that do not have registered
seed labelers and receive subvention funds: Alpine, Amador,
Calaveras, Del Norte, El Dorado, Inyo, Lake, Mariposa, Mono,
Plumas, Sierra, Trinity, and Tuolumne. In addition, there are
three counties with registered seed labelers that received
subvention funds but did not complete approved work plans:
Contra Costa, Marin, and Napa.
The SAB and commissioners, along with CDFA, are in discussions
as to how to rework the funding structure to better reflect the
current needs of everyone. For instance, it may not make sense
to continue to provide some counties funds when no work is being
performed, while it may be better to provide funds for
commissioner training; and, better accounting for workloads
could help ensure counties' costs for servicing the program are
covered. Due to these concerns, the sunset is being extended
for two years rather than the typical five years. This will
give the parties a chance to work out a resolution.
Previous Legislation: AB 1255 (Tom Berryhill), Chapter 281,
Statutes of 2009, extends to January 1, 2015, the operation of
provisions of the CSL, including a subvention program.
AB 856 (Galgiani), Chapter 425, Statutes of 2008, extends to
January 1, 2010, the operation of provisions of the CSL,
including a subvention program; provides that the minimum $100
subvention may not be allocated to counties without registered
seed labelers.
AB 315 (Salinas), Chapter 394, Statutes of 2003, requires the
Secretary to pay a total annual subvention to counties of
$120,000; extends to July 1, 2009, the operation of provisions
in the CSL.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
SB 348
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Support
California Seed Association (Sponsor)
Rural County Representatives of California
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Jim Collin / AGRI. / (916) 319-2084