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Minutes for HB2478 - Committee on Agriculture
Short Title
Relating to Kansas department of agriculture license renewal dates and late fees.
Minutes Content for Mon, Jan 22, 2018
Chair Hoffman opened the hearing on HB2478 at 3:33pm.
Kyle Hamilton, Assistant Revisor, Office of The Revisor of Statutes, provided an overview of HB2478 and the statutes that it affects. (Attachment 1) There is a Fiscal Note for HB2478. Mr Hamilton stood for questions from the Committee.
PROPONENTS
Chad Bontrager, Deputy Secretary, Kansas Department of Agriculture (KSDA), appeared before the Committee in support of HB2478. (Attachment 2) This bill establishes or updates late fees for licenses throughout the KSDA. The bill also changes the statutory expiration date for licenses within the Division of Animal Health from July to September, which cleans-up the budget proviso language. KSDA believes late fees are a reasonable and effective motivator for compliance with on-time renewal. Late fees allow for a lower license fee and no additional monetary penalty for compliant businesses. They also allow the additional cost of pursuing non-compliant businesses to be passed onto those businesses through the assessment of a late fee.
Mr Bontrager answered questions from the Committee.
OPPONENTS
Steve Hitchcock, Kansas Agriculture Aviation Association, stood in opposition to the bill. He stated that if feedlots are not included in this fee schedule, then there is an equity problem. All licensees should be treated equally. (Attachment 3)
NEUTRALS
Randy E. Stookey, General Counsel, Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association, appeared before the Committee as a neutral of HB2478. (Attachment 4) While we agree that some form of late fee is appropriate, a 40% late fee, as proposed, for pesticide application businesses is excessive. We suggest that a late fee of 25% would be more reasonable and propose an amendment to that effect.
Mr Stookey stood for questions from the Committee.
Mandy Roe, Director - Member Services, Kansas Cooperative Council, appeared before the Committee as a neutral of HB2478. (Attachment 5) While we appreciate all the good work KSDA does on licensing, we also feel that the 40% late fee in the bill is excessive. We support the proposed amendment reducing this fee.
Ms Roe stood for questions from the Committee.
The Chair closed the hearing on HB2478 at 4:08p.
The Chair adjourned the Committee at 4:09p.
