BILL ANALYSIS C.S.S.B. 590 By: Brown Agriculture 04-06-95 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND Section 12.031 of the Agriculture Code allows the Texas Department of Agriculture to publish, sell, receive royalties, and enter into contractual agreements related to providing information about agriculture, horticulture and related industries. There is no language in the Agriculture Code pertaining to the actual selling of advertising in the department's publications. PURPOSE As proposed, C.S.S.B. 590 authorizes the Department of Agriculture to sell advertisements in publications of the department. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is granted to the Department of Agriculture under SECTION 1 (Section 12.032(b), Agriculture Code) of this bill. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 12, Agriculture Code, by adding Section 12.032, as follows: Sec. 12.032. ADVERTISEMENTS IN DEPARTMENT PUBLICATIONS. (a) Authorizes the Department of Agriculture (department) to sell advertisements in department publications. (b) Requires the department to adopt rules to implement advertisement sales, including rules regulating the advertisement costs, the types of products or services that may be advertised, the advertisement sizes, and refunds on advertisements that are not run. (c) Requires proceeds from the advertisement sales to be used to pay the department's publication costs. Requires any excess funds to be deposited in the general revenue fund. SECTION 2. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.