Senate Agriculture Committee
1020 N Street, Suite 244 ● Sacramento, California 95814
● 916-651-1508 (phone) ● 916-327-8290 (fax)
END OF YEAR REPORT
2007
This report will provide you with a summary of all bills heard by the Committee as well as a brief synopsis of the informational hearings during the 2007 legislative year.
For additional information concerning any bill in this summary, please contact the Committee office.
Thank you for your continued interest in agriculture
issues. It is important for the Committee to continue
advancing agriculture policy issues for
Introduction
/ Senate
Bills / Assembly
Bills / Informational
Hearings
The Senate Agriculture Committee is pleased to provide this End of Year Report for the benefit of the Committee members, their staff, the administration, the lobbying community, and the public. The Committee hopes that this report provides a quick and convenient reference to bills that were considered by the Committee and informational hearings held during the 2007 legislative year.
Committee bill files dated 2004 or earlier are available for
review at the California State Archives. Committee bill files
from this year and last Session are kept with the Committee and are available
for public review upon request. Please contact us by phone at
(916) 651-1508 or in person at 1020 N Street,
The Committee also keeps a record of all informational
hearings. The record includes the hearing agenda, various
background materials developed by the Committee staff, testimony, and supporting
materials submitted by witnesses. In addition, informational
hearings are often audio recorded and occasionally video recorded.
Please contact us if you need more information about an informational
hearing summarized in this report.
Summary of Legislation
This summary is intended to provide a quick reference to bills that were considered by the Committee during the 2007 legislative year. The summary is not intended to provide a complete analysis of each bill. However, analysis are available upon request. If you need more information about a particular bill, which is presented in this report, please review the complete bill analysis.
The summary includes the bill number, the bill’s author, a summary of the bill, and the current status of the bill. Senate Bills are listed first because the Committee normally hears Senate Bills early in the legislative year, followed by Assembly Bills.
SB 107 (Alquist), as referred to committee, would require the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the State Department of Health Care Services to establish the “Healthy Food Retail Innovations Fund.” Because this bill was amended replacing the two agencies with the State Department of Health Services, the bill was withdrawn from the Committee. In August, the bill was gutted and amended with language related to wave pools. Status: Held in the Senate Rules Committee.
SB 200 (Florez) would establish recall regulations on produce and create a leafy green vegetable inspection program. Status: Held in the Assembly Agriculture Committee.
SB 201 (Florez) would create leafy green vegetable crop safety regulations. Status: Held in the Assembly Agriculture Committee.
SB 202 (Florez) would create a leafy green vegetable crop traceback system. Status: Held in the Assembly Agriculture Committee.
SB 246 (Margett) provides that the directors
for the 48th District Agricultural Association may reside outside of
the boundaries of the district but within
SB 281 (Maldonado) simplifies the procurement procedure for district agriculture associations and the California Exposition and State Fair. Status: Chapter 346, Statutes of 2007.
SB 311 (Cogdill) would appropriate $1 million annually from the General Fund to the Noxious Weed Management Account. Status: Held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
SB 486 (Maldonado) would establish the California Avocado Pest and Disease Prevention Act of 2007. Status: Held in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
SB 517 (Maldonado) would require the California
Department of Food and Agriculture to establish and oversee a program to provide
additional funding for successful applicants to the Environmental Quality
Incentives Program. Status: Held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
SB 556 (Wiggins) creates the Light Brown Apple Moth Program to eradicate the moth subject to funding availability. Status: Chapter 190, Statutes of 2007.
SB 770 (Cogdill) specifies that the regulated
minimum price of milk must be used when determining the “sale below cost” value
of milk. Status: Chapter 351, Statutes of 2007.
AB 472 (Agriculture) increases a number of fees
associated with brand registration and hide inspections.
Status: Chapter 267, Statutes of 2007.
AB 684 (Leno) permits the cultivation of
industrial hemp in
AB 771 (De
AB 856 (Parra) would provide the Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, upon the recommendation of the Seed Advisory Board, the option to not provide the minimum $100 annual subvention to counties without registered seed labelers. Status: Held on the Senate Inactive File.
AB 1021 (Galgiani) would establish the California Apple Pest and Disease Prevention Act of 2007. Status: Held in the Senate Agriculture Committee.
AB 1667 (La Malfa) would define “carnival” and “carnival workers.” Status: Held in the Senate Agriculture Committee.
AB 1713 (Agriculture) redefines the distribution funds of the Motor Vehicle Fuel Tax dollars. Status: Chapter 421, Statutes of 2007.
AB 1717 (Agriculture) provides the county agriculture commissioners with regulations and oversight to ensure proper use and application of fumigates and other structural pest control pesticides. Status: Chapter 338, Statutes of 2007.
AB 1718 (Agriculture) clarifies dairy exemption number language from previous legislation. Provides the Kiwifruit Commission the authority to share market price information. Status: Chapter 124, Statutes of 2007.
AB 1735 (Agriculture) makes several technical changes to state milk standards and grades. Status: Chapter 339, Statutes of 2007.
This hearing
focused on the impact on the
This hearing
discussed the importance of agricultural product labeling as well as
international origin labels and examined the information on agricultural
products that may pose potential food safety risks. The
hearing was held in