SENATE RULES COMMITTEE
Office of Senate Floor Analyses
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AB 732
THIRD READING
Bill No:
Author:
Amended:
Vote:
AB 732
Cooper (D), et al.
7/8/15 in Senate
21
SENATE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE: 3-0, 6/30/15
AYES: Galgiani, Cannella, Pan
NO VOTE RECORDED: Berryhill, Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 5/7/15 (Consent) - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Cattle protection: brands: inspection: fees
SOURCE: California Farm Bureau Federation
Milk Producers Council
DIGEST: This bill exempts cattle from brand inspection when sold or ownership
is transferred when all of the following apply: the entity with a controlling interest
does not change, the cattle remain within California or the point-of-origin
inspection area, and the cattle are associated with a registered brand or dairy
exemption number. This bill also increases specified related fees for brand
registration and cattle inspection by approximately 20%.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Authorizes the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA),
through the Bureau of Livestock Identification, to administer and enforce laws
and regulations that would protect cattle from theft and misappropriation in
California.
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2) Authorizes CDFA to regulate and record brands that establish or indicate cattle
ownership, as specified.
3) Establishes the Livestock Identification Advisory Board to make
recommendations to the secretary of CDFA in regards to administration and
enforcement of brand laws and regulations and the annual budget for the
Bureau of Livestock Identification. Advisory board members are appointed by
the secretary and consist of cattle producers, dairymen, persons engaged in
livestock marketing, operators of feedlots, and a member of the public.
4) Authorizes CDFA to collect fees and penalties regarding cattle identification,
including, but not limited to:
a) $60 per brand registration, renewal, or transfer.
b) $1.05 per animal inspected, with exceptions.
c) $1.44 per carcass or hide inspected, with exceptions.
5) Authorizes CDFA to increase cattle inspection fees up to 20% of the statutory
fee upon recommendation of the Livestock Identification Advisory Board (Food
and Agricultural Code §20760 and 21291).
6) Requires fees and penalties collected pursuant to cattle protection to be
deposited in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund and used for the
administration and enforcement of cattle protection provisions.
7) Provides for civil and criminal penalties for persons in violation of cattle
branding laws. Provides penalties for livestock grand theft, punishable by a fee
of $5,000 and/or imprisonment for up to one year (Penal Code §489).
This bill:
1) Exempts cattle from a brand inspection when sold or ownership transferred
under all of the following circumstances:
a) The controlling interest remains unchanged.
b) Cattle will remain within California or the point-of-origin inspection area.
c) Cattle are associated with a registered brand or dairy exemption number.
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2) Requires cattle owners, within 30 days of ownership transfer, to self-certify
their ownership on a CDFA-issued form.
3) Authorizes CDFA to charge a fee, not to exceed $50, to cover the reasonable
costs of processing the form.
4) Makes violations of the above provisions subject to civil penalties currently in
law for violations of cattle inspection provisions.
5) Increases specified related fees for brand registration and cattle inspection by
approximately 20%.
Background
The CDFA Bureau of Livestock Identification is responsible for the administration
and enforcement of cattle protection by issuing brand registration certificates and
conducting inspections. Generally, inspections are required when cattle are sold,
transported, have a transfer of ownership, and before entering a feedlot or
slaughterhouse. Funding for this program is entirely supported through registration
and inspection fees. (Food and Agricultural Code §20001 et seq.).
Comments
Need for this bill. Supporters of this bill provided the Senate Agriculture
Committee with a recent example of a dairy farm owner who wanted to add his son
as a minority partner. This required the dairy to be changed from a sole
proprietorship to a general partnership. Under current law, this change is
considered a change in ownership and triggers a brand inspection by the Bureau of
Livestock Identification, even though the majority owner, business name, location,
and herd remain the same. This bill provides an exemption from brand inspection
for cattle whose ownership is transferred in such a manner. At $1.05 per animal, a
brand inspection can be unnecessarily costly.
Fees. Existing law authorizes CDFA to increase cattle inspection and registration
fees up to 20%. On August 28, 2014, the Livestock Identification Advisory Board
passed a motion to increase several of these fees, many of which are at or near the
maximum 20% increase. In order for the program to remain effective, this bill
increases the current fees in code to that which is currently charged by CDFA,
while maintaining existing authority for CDFA to increase fees by another 20%.
These fees were last increased in statute in 2006 (AB 2332, Committee on
Agriculture, Chapter 568; brand inspection fees) and 2007 (AB 472, Committee on
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Agriculture, Chapter 267; registration and hide inspection fees). Prior to that, the
last statutory fee increase was established in 1991.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.:
Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT: (Verified 8/18/15)
California Farm Bureau Federation (co-source)
Milk Producers Council (co-source)
California Cattlemen’s Association
California Chamber of Commerce
OPPOSITION: (Verified 8/18/15)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, “California’s farm
families that raise dairy and beef cattle face increasing economic pressures to
remain competitive. Passing on these family farms and ranches is becoming
increasingly difficult. There are many factors contributing to the loss of family
farms and ranches and it is important that California works to reduce unnecessary
impediments to passing farms and ranches onto the next generation. AB 732
would clarify that no inspection is necessary when the controlling interest of the
farm or ranch does not change and the cattle are not being moved out of state or
out of a modified point-of-origin inspection area. This clarification will reduce
costs to families working to maintain their farms and bring on the next generation
to continue California’s successful farming tradition.”
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 5/7/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta,
Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,
Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines,
Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer,
Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes,
McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen,
Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams,
Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Campos, Roger Hernández, Steinorth
AB 732
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Prepared by: Anne Megaro / AGRI. / (916) 651-1508
8/18/15 16:54:10
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