| TO: | Honorable Craig Estes, Chair, Senate Committee on Agriculture & Rural Affairs |
| FROM: | John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | SB1871 by Hegar (Relating to the management of volunteer and other noncommercial cotton in pest management zones.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted |
The bill would amend the Agriculture Code to require the Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation to conduct a study of the effects of incomplete stalk destruction and volunteer cotton control on boll weevil eradication activities, and submit recommendations for a cotton stalk destruction deadline for each pest management zone to the Department of Agriculture (TDA). The bill would require TDA to set a cotton stalk destruction deadline for each pest management zone based on the foundation’s recommendations. The bill would require TDA to establish a hostable cotton fee for fields in which hostable cotton stalks, hostable volunteer cotton, or other hostable noncommercial cotton remains past the stalk destruction deadline for the applicable pest management zone. All hostable cotton fees would be deposited in an account established for the treatment of cotton until the cotton is rendered nonhostable and for other expenses incident to boll weevil eradication.
This legislation would do one or more of the following: create or recreate a dedicated account in the General Revenue Fund, create or recreate a special or trust fund either with or outside of the Treasury, or create a dedicated revenue source. The fund, account, or revenue dedication included in this bill would be subject to funds consolidation review by the current Legislature.
Revenue would be generated by the bill, but the Comptroller of Public Accounts indicates that this amount cannot be determined.
TDA indicates that it could absorb the costs associated with the bill within its current resources.
The bill would take effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all members elected to each house; otherwise it would take effect September 1, 2009.
| Source Agencies: | 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts, 551 Department of Agriculture
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, SZ, AH, SD
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