HBA-JRA C.S.S.B. 448 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.S.B. 448
By: Duncan
Agriculture & Livestock
3/23/1999
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Currently, boll weevil eradication programs in Texas are financed primarily
by cotton growers, with limited help from the federal government.  In
cooperation with the Texas Department of Agriculture, growers have formed
eradication zones to fight the boll weevil.  However, much work remains to
be done, as eradication efforts have begun on less than 25 percent of the
state's acres. C.S.S.B. 448 authorizes the commissioner of agriculture to
expend funds appropriated by the legislature for the eradication of the
boll weevil or pink bollworm in a cost-sharing program. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking
authority is expressly delegated to the commissioner of agriculture in
SECTION 1 (Section 74.152, Agriculture Code) of this bill. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Chapter 74, Agriculture Code, by adding Subchapter E, as
follows: 

SUBCHAPTER E.  COST-SHARING FOR BOLL WEEVIL ERADICATION

Sec. 74.151.  DEFINITIONS.  Establishes that "boll weevil" and "pink
bollworm" have the meanings assigned to them by Section 74.002
(Definitions) and "commissioner" is defined as the commissioner of
agriculture. 

Sec. 74.152.  CREATION OF COST-SHARING PROGRAM.  Creates a cost-sharing
program to be administered under this chapter and rules adopted by the
commissioner to eradicate the boll weevil and the pink bollworm. 

Sec. 74.153.  COST-SHARING PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.  (a)  Authorizes the
commissioner to contract with the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation,
Inc., to obtain boll weevil eradication services for the state. 

(b)  Authorizes the Department of Agriculture to spend money under the
cost-sharing program only in a zone in which a boll weevil eradication
project under this chapter is active or boll weevil eradication has been
declared complete by the United States Department of Agriculture or its
designee. 

SECTION 2.Emergency clause.
  Effective date: upon passage.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

The substitute modifies the original, in SECTION 1, by deleting the
prohibition proposed in Section 74.153, Agriculture Code, against the
Department of Agriculture providing funding for boll weevil eradication
services at a rate in excess of the rate set in the General Appropriations
Act if the commissioner contracts for services with the Texas Boll Weevil
Eradication Foundation, Inc.