BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  SB 1399
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   July 2, 2014

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                   SB 1399 (Galgiani) - As Amended:  March 26, 2014

          Policy Committee:                               
          AgricultureVote:7-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill extends from July 1, 2016, to July 1, 2019, the  
          inoperative dates, and from January 1, 2017, to January 1, 2020,  
          the repeal dates of the California Seed Law, and modifies the  
          methodology used to calculate subvention payments to county  
          agricultural commissioners (CACs) for work performed enforcing  
          California Seed Law.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)Insignificant costs to the Department of Food and Agriculture  
            (DFA).

          2)DFA's Seed Services Program has a current annual budget of  
            $120,000 and is funded through industry assessments and  
            registration fees.

           COMMENTS  

          1)  Purpose.   According to the author, extension of the operative  
            dates will permit the continued allocation of industry-derived  
            subvention funds to various counties for the enforcement of  
            California Seed Law.  These payments allow CACs to perform  
            local seed inspection and enforcement services to ensure that  
            seed sold in California is properly and accurately identified  
            on the product label.  The author contends that without the  
            subvention, it is unlikely the California Seed Law would be  
            enforced in a cost-effective manner.

          2)  Subvention Payment Distribution Formula.   This bill amends the  
            county subvention payment distribution formula to delete the  








                                                                  SB 1399
                                                                  Page  2

            requirement that funds be distributed based on "units of  
            activity."  Deletion of the "units of activity" element would  
            afford the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the  
            Seed Advisory Board and CACs, greater flexibility in  
            determining the distribution of the subvention payments.  The  
            elimination of the prescriptive formula based on "units of  
            activity" was also approved by the Seed Advisory Board.


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Joel Tashjian / APPR. / (916) 319-2081