BILL ANALYSIS


                                                    C.S.S.B. 1196
                                                         By: Sims
                                                      Agriculture
                                                         04-18-95
                                   Committee Report (Substituted)
BACKGROUND

The boll weevil eradication program was created by the 73rd
Legislature.  Since that time, questions and concerns about the
program have arisen: questions about the official cotton growers'
boll weevil eradication foundation's power to annex land and borrow
money to increase the effectiveness of the program; and concerns
about the tax status of the foundation, and whether the program's
effectiveness will be maintained.

PURPOSE

As proposed, C.S.S.B. 1196 amends provisions of the boll weevil
eradication program to authorize annexation of contiguous lands and
acceptance of grants and loans to increase the effectiveness of the
program.  Provides that the official cotton growers' boll weevil
eradication foundation maintains a tax exempt status as long as it
stays a government unit.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is granted
to the Department of Agriculture under SECTION 10 (Section
74.120(c), Agriculture Code) of this bill.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Sections 74.102(5), (9), and (14), Agriculture
Code, to redefine "cotton grower" "High Plains Boll Weevil
Suppression Program Area," and "St. Lawrence Cotton Growers Boll
Weevil Control Zone."

SECTION 2. Amends Section 74.107(a), Agriculture Code, to authorize
an area in either the High Plains Boll Weevil Suppression Program
Area or the St. Lawrence Cotton Growers Boll Weevil Control Zone to
be assigned to another zone as provided by this subchapter. 
Deletes language prohibiting either zone from being combined with
another eradication zone.

SECTION 3. Amends Section 74.108, Agriculture Code, as follows:

     Sec.  74.108.  BOARD POWERS.  (a) Authorizes the board of
     directors of the official cotton growers' boll weevil
     eradication foundation (board) to accept, as necessary, gifts
     and grants; borrow money as necessary; take other action and
     exercise authority as necessary to execute any act authorized
     by this subchapter and Article 1396-1.01 et seq. (Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act), among others.  Redesignates existing
     Subdivision (5) as Subdivision (8).
     
     (b) Authorizes the board to add an area to an eradication
       zone if cotton production begins in the area; the area is
       adjacent to an eradication zone or an area with similar
       biological characteristics; and the addition is approved in
       a referendum held in the area.
       
       (c) Authorizes the board to initiate the boll weevil
       eradication program in area added to an eradication zone and
       to assess cotton growers in an area added to the eradication
       zone to ensure the integrity and success of the program. 
       Requires the board to provide notice of intent to initiate
       eradication and collect assessments through meetings in the
       affected area not later than 60 days before the date
       recognized by the board as the average planting date for the
       area.
     
     SECTION 4.     Amends Sections 74.109, Agriculture Code, as follows:

     Sec.  74.109.  BOARD DUTIES.  (a) and (b) Make no change.
     
     (c) Requires the official cotton growers' boll weevil
       eradication foundation (foundation) to provide fidelity
       bonds in amounts determined by the board, rather than surety
       bonds in amounts determined by the commissioner of
       agriculture (commissioner), for employees who handle
       foundation funds.
     (d) Provides that the foundation and the board are state
       agencies for the purpose of exemption from taxes and
       indemnification.  Deletes language requiring funds collected
       by the foundation to be held as trust funds.
     (e) Created from existing Subsection (d).
     (f) Provides that the foundation is a governmental unit and
       is entitled to governmental immunity.  Requires tort claims
       against the foundation to be made under Chapter 101, Civil
       Practice and Remedies Code.
     (g) and (h) Redesignate existing Subsections (e) and (f).
     SECTION 5.     Amends Section 74.110(a), Agriculture Code, to provide
that the foundation, its members, and its directors, among others,
are not liable to a cotton grower or other person for certain acts
except in instances of negligence, criminal activity, or acts of
dishonesty.

SECTION 6. Amends Section 74.113(f), Agriculture Code, to authorize
an assessment levied on cotton growers in an eradication zone to be
applied only to the foundation's operating costs, including
payments on debts incurred for any foundation activity, among
others.

SECTION 7. Amends Section 74.114, Agriculture Code, by amending
Subsections (f) and (i) and adding Subsection (j), as follows:

     (f) Requires the ballots in a referendum or board election to
     be mailed directly to a central location to be determined by
     the commissioner and then the board.  Requires a cotton grower
     eligible to vote in a referendum or board election who has not
     received a ballot from the foundation or another source to be
     offered the option of requesting a ballot by mail or obtaining
     one at the office of the county agent of the Texas
     Agricultural Extension Service (TAES) or a government office
     distributing ballots in a county in the proposed or
     established zone in which the referendum or board election is
     being conducted, rather than voting in person at the TAES
     office in the county in which the cotton grower resides. 
     Deletes language requiring a county agent to hold the ballots.
     
     (i) Requires a public hearing regarding the proposed
     eradication program, rather than plan, including certain
     information, to be held by the foundation in several locations
     within each eradication zone.  Prohibits the area for each
     hearing from including more than six contiguous counties that
     have cotton production at the time of the hearing.
     
     (j) Provides that individual voter information, including an
     individual's vote in a referendum or board election conducted
     under this section, is confidential and is not subject to
     disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code.
     
     SECTION 8.     Amends Sections 74.115(b) and (c), Agriculture Code, as
follows:

     (b) Requires a cotton grower who fails to pay all assessments
     and penalties before the 10th day, rather than 31st, after
     receiving a delinquency notice to any cotton growing on the
     acreage subject to the assessment.  Requires the Department of
     Agriculture (department) to follow procedures for the
     destruction of host plants provided by Subchapter A of this
     chapter, including procedures for reimbursement by the grower
     of costs required for destruction.
     
     (c) Authorizes the department to place and perfect a lien on
     cotton produced and harvested that year from the acreage that
     is subject to the assessment, rather than before the
     destruction of cotton grown, that is due and unpaid.
     
     SECTION 9.     Amends Section 74.116(b), Agriculture Code, to prohibit
a cotton grower from qualifying for an exemption under this section
for a year in which the amount due under this subchapter from the
cotton grower's net income subject to federal taxes in the previous
year is greater than $15,000.

SECTION 10.    Amends Section 74.120(c), Agriculture Code, to
authorize the department, along with the foundation, to adopt rules
necessary to carry out the purposes of this subchapter and
Subchapter A.

SECTION 11.    Amends Section 74.125, Agriculture Code, as follows:

     Sec.  74.125.  ORGANIC PRODUCERS.  (a) Created from existing
     text.  Makes a nonsubstantive change.
     
     (b) Prohibits the board from treating or requiring treatment
       of organic cotton fields with chemicals that are not
       approved for use on certified organic cotton.  Authorizes
       plow-up to be required as an alternative to chemicals. 
       Authorizes the board to provide indemnity for organic
       producers for reasonable losses that result from a
       prohibition of production of organic cotton or from any
       requirement of destruction of organic cotton.  Authorizes
       the board to require mitigation of losses with the
       production of an alternative crop if time is reasonably
       available for the production of an alternative crop.
       
SECTION 12.    Amends Section 74.126(c), Agriculture Code, to
authorize the commissioner or the foundation to request the
attorney general or a county or district attorney to file suit if
the commissioner or the foundation determines that a violation
under this subchapter or of a rule adopted under this subchapter
has occurred.

SECTION 13.    Amends Section 74.127, Agriculture Code, by adding
Subsection (c), to provide that if the foundation is abolished or
the eradication program discontinued for any reason, assessments
approved, levied, or otherwise collectable on the date of
abolishment remain valid as necessary to pay financial obligations
of the foundation.

SECTION 14.    Effective date: September 1, 1995.

SECTION 15.    Emergency clause.