Bill Summary for Bill Number SB10-072

Date: 02/04/2010

Final
BILL SUMMARY for SB10-072

SENATE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Votes: View-->	Action Taken:
Moved to refer Senate Bill 10-072, to the Committe	PASS

01:43 PM -- Senate Bill 10-072

Senator Schwartz, Prime Sponsor, described the provisions of Senate Bill 10-072 that creates the Colorado Seed Potato Act which requires potato growers who plant 1 or more acres of potatoes to use certified seed potatoes, with some exceptions (Attachment C). The Commissioner of Agriculture is responsible for administration and enforcement of the act and can set fees, conduct inspections, issue subpoenas, impose civil penalties, and sue in court. Growers are required to maintain certain records, which may be reviewed by an independent auditor on a random basis. Colorado State University is the certifying authority for Colorado grown seed potatoes. Seed potatoes grown outside of Colorado must be certified by the certifying authority of the state, territory, or country of origin. The bill creates the commissioner-appointed 9-member Seed Potato Advisory Committee, and specifies their duties.

The following persons testified on the bill:

01:47 PM -- Kent Sather, Colorado State University (CSU), described the voluntary potato seed certification program that he administers for CSU and described the market for certified seed potatoes. He also described Colorado State University's seed potato certification program.

01:53 PM -- Jim Ehrlich, Colorado Potato Administration Committee, spoke in support of the bill and described the persons and entities involved in the drafting of Senate Bill 10-072 (Attachment D). He also described the potential economic benefits of a seed potato certification program.

02:00 PM -- Bob Mattive, Colorado Certified Potato Growers Association, spoke in support of the bill and described Colorado's seed potato market (Attachment E). He also identified the potential economic benefits of a seed potato certification program.

02:03 PM -- Roger Mix, Colorado Certified Potato Growers Association, National Potato Council, spoke in support of the bill and identified the potential economic benefits of a seed potato certification program including additional exports of seed potatoes. He also responded to questions from the committee about why potato growers did not request the seed potato certification legislation sooner.

02:08 PM -- Monty Smith, Three S Ranch, Inc., spoke in support of the bill and identified the potential economic benefits of a seed potato certification program. He also explained why potato growers did not request the seed potato certification legislation sooner.

02:11 PM -- Mitch Yergert, Colorado Department of Agriculture, explained that the department would implement the potato certification program if the bill is enacted. He also described the bill's fiscal impact on the Department of Agriculture.

LeRoy J. Salazar submitted written testimony in support of the bill (Attachment F):

02:14 PM

Senator Schwartz close her remarks on the bill.


BILL:	SB10-072
TIME:	02:14:59 PM
MOVED:	Schwartz
MOTION:	Moved to refer Senate Bill 10-072, to the Committee on Appropriations, without amendment. The motion passed on a roll call vote of 6 to 0.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Brophy	Excused
	Gibbs	Yes
	Harvey	Yes
	Kester	Yes
	Schwartz	Yes
	Whitehead	Yes
	Hodge	Yes

Final YES: 6 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS