POTATO GROWERS ASSESSMENT H.B. 5204 (S-1): FLOOR ANALYSIS
House Bill 5204 (Substitute S-1as reported) Sponsor: Representative Carl F. Gnodtke House Committee: Agriculture and Forestry Senate Committee: Agriculture and Forestry
The bill would amend Public Act 29 of 1970, which governs the State Potato Industry Commission, to permit an additional assessment to be imposed upon potato growers if the Commission recommended the assessment and more than 50% of the affected growers assented to the proposal in a referendum. (Currently, the Act requires an assessment at the rate of one cent per hundredweight on potatoes grown in the State to be imposed upon each grower and shipper within this State; by a majority vote, the Commission may raise the assessment by as much as an additional one-half cent per hundredweight.) Five years after the latest referendum had been held, the Department of Agriculture would have to conduct amoung growers a referendum on whether the Commission should continue to levy the assessments. If a majority of the growers, as speficied in the bill, voted against having the Commission continue to function, it would have to stop operating and deliver its assets to the Department Director who would have to transfer them to Michigan State University for potato research.
MCL 290.424 & 290.428 Legislative Analyst: L. Arasim
The bill would have no fiscal impact on State or local government.
Date Completed: 12-11-95 Fiscal Analyst: A. Rich
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This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.