| TO: | Honorable Craig Estes, Chair, Senate Committee on S/C on Ag., Rural Affairs & Coastal Resources |
| FROM: | John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | SB689 by Shapleigh (Relating to the sale or transport of certain desert plants; providing a penalty. ), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted |
The bill establishes requirements for the sale or transportation of desert plants, requires a person who grows or harvests a desert plant to register with the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA), and requires a person selling or transporting desert plants to have documentation (prescribed by TDA) certifying the sale or transport for each transaction involving at least 25 plants. For a transaction involving more than 25 desert plants a person must provide documentation for each grouping of 25 or fewer plants.
The bill also allows TDA to issue a stop-sale order to stop the sale or shipment of desert plants that are not accompanied by the documentation prescribed by agency, and establishes penalties if a person advertises, sells, or ships undocumented desert plants.
TDA anticipates a cost of $51,200 in fiscal year 2008 to modify the agency’s current data collection/management system for registration and enforcement activities required by this bill. It is expected that this cost can be absorbed within existing agency resources.
| Source Agencies: | 551 Department of Agriculture
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, WK, ZS, JF
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