Eggs: assessment fees.

(1) Existing law requires California and out-of-state egg handlers and producers to pay to the Secretary of Food and Agriculture a maximum fee of $0.05 for each 30 dozen eggs sold in this state, as provided. Any person who commits a 2nd or subsequent violation of these provisions is guilty of a misdemeanor. The fees paid to the secretary under these provisions are deposited in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund, a continuously appropriated fund for these purposes. The secretary is authorized to establish a lower rate for those fees if the funds derived from the assessment are more than reasonably necessary to cover the cost of administration and enforcement of the preparation for market and marketing of eggs, as specified. This bill would raise the maximum fee to $0.15 for each 30 dozen eggs sold in this state, and would expand the scope of the fee requirement to include out-of-state egg handlers and producers who bring egg products, as defined, into the state. By increasing moneys deposited in a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. Because this bill would expand the scope of a crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would further require the secretary to establish a lower rate for those fees if the funds derived from the assessment are more than reasonably necessary to cover the cost of administration and enforcement, as specified. (2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.