House Bill 112

Chair's Name: Tom McCall

Committee: Agriculture & Consumer Affairs

House Sponsor: Tom McCall

HB 112 eliminates various license fees currently being collected by the Department of Agriculture. The fees eliminated are the $5 license fee for cream testers, the $10 fee for manufacturing soft drinks, and a fee related to milk product permits.

This bill received a Do Pass recommendation from the Agriculture & Consumer Affairs Committee and comes to the House Floor under the Open Rule. 

Chairman McCall's opinion of this legislation:

WHAT PROBLEM/OPPORTUNITY DOES THIS LEGISLATION ADDRESS?

This bill amends the Georgia Dairy Act of 1980 (The Act), which allows the Department of Agriculture to set a license fee by regulation for certain businesses involved in the production, distribution and/or sale of milk or milk products. The fees do not generate enough revenue to cover the cost of collection and processing such fees.  FY05 fees collected under this section were $1400 for the three different groups. Additionally, the bill removes the fees collected for "Cream Testers".  The fees collected under this program were $95.  These changes do not alter the responsibility of either the Department to regulate or the industry to produce clean and wholesome dairy products. 

The bill also removes the fees collected for businesses that manufacture, bottle or distribute soft drinks and/or soft drink syrup in Georgia.  The change would eliminate the need for a special license.  Those firms producing these products can be licensed with the "Food Sales Establishment License" used for all other food businesses regulated by the Consumer Protection Division.  The FY05 fees collected under this section were $1160.  Again, these changes do not alter the responsibility of either the Department to regulate or the industry to produce clean and wholesome products.

WHAT IS THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THIS LEGISLATION?

License fees were set by statute so low that they were useless.

THIS LEGISLATION:

�         Reduces the Size of Government

Less fees collected, Less time required to administer programs