HBA-BSM H.B. 2354 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2354 By: Swinford Agriculture & Livestock 3/9/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law requires purchasers of certain agricultural products to collect assessments from producers and remit the assessments to commodity producer boards (board). There have been incidents where boards are not collecting assessments from producers, which gives purchasers an unfair pricing advantage. In addition, some purchasers are not remitting the assessments collected to the board. House Bill 2354 authorizes the Texas Department of Agriculture to investigate complaints of a board and provides a $1,000 penalty for a violation of law regarding commodity producers boards. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 2354 amends the Agriculture Code to authorize a commodity producers board (board) to forward a complaint and any original evidence or information establishing probable cause to the Department of Agriculture (department) if the board has probable cause to believe a person has failed to collect an assessment or failed to remit an assessment to the board. The bill authorizes suits to be brought in Travis County or any county in which a person who is alleged to have failed to collect or remit an assessment conducts business related to the commodity. The bill authorizes the department to investigate, audit, and inspect the records of the person who is the subject of the complaint. On determination by the department that a person has failed to collect an assessment or remit an assessment to the board, the department is authorized to request a hearing to determine the amount of payment due, impose an administrative penalty of $1,000, and request the attorney general or a county or district attorney to bring an action for appropriate civil or criminal penalties or injunctive relief. An assessment and any interest collected is required to be deposited in the account of the board that levied the assessment. EFFECTIVE DATE On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2001.