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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1000
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 4811
Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT
Introduced by:
(ENV)
AN ACT CONCERNING APPLE ASSESSMENTS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 22-54r of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2019): 2
(a) There shall be paid by each apple producer to the Commissioner 3
of Agriculture an assessment sufficient to cover the costs in the budget 4
for implementation of the apple market order. The amount of the 5
assessment shall be determined by the commissioner except that: (1) 6
Such assessment shall not be less than one hundred dollars for any 7
apple producer, and (2) any assessment in excess of six cents per first 8
sale unit shall be approved by a referendum conducted in accordance 9
with the provisions of subsection (c) of section 22-54q. The initial one 10
thousand first sale units of any apple producer in each market season 11
shall be exempt from the assessment. 12
(b) Each apple producer subject to the assessment shall submit a 13
return to the commissioner either annually on the fifteenth day of each 14
November or quarterly on the fifteenth day of each November, 15
February, May and August. The amount due shall be: (1) One hundred 16 Raised Bill No. 1000
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dollars, or (2) based on the number of apples sold or removed from 17
storage on or before the last day of the month preceding the month the 18
assessment is due, whichever is greater. If the apple producer elects to 19
submit a return annually he or she shall calculate the amount due by 20
considering seventy-five per cent of his or her total harvest to be first 21
sale units. The commissioner may require a producer to submit 22
additional documentation regarding the number of first sale units in 23
order to ensure that the assessment is proper. Any apple producer who 24
fails to pay the assessment required under this section may be assessed 25
a civil penalty of not more than one thousand dollars for each day 26
during which such nonpayment continues after receipt of an 27
assessment under this subsection. 28
(c) Any revenues received during any marketing season and not 29
expended may be paid by the commissioner at the end of the 30
marketing season on a pro-rata basis to those apple producers who 31
paid the assessment or may be carried over to the next marketing 32
season as the commissioner deems necessary. 33
(d) Any broker, distributor or handler who, at the request of the 34
producer, deducts the amount of the assessment due on the first sale 35
units sold or transferred from storage, shall be liable for accounting 36
and payment of such assessment. 37
(e) Any money collected by the commissioner pursuant to the 38
provisions of this section shall not be deemed state funds and shall be 39
deposited pursuant to section 4-33, in a qualified public depository in 40
Connecticut. Such funds shall be expended by the commissioner for 41
expenses incurred in administering the budget recommended by the 42
board. 43
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2019 22-54r
Raised Bill No. 1000
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ENV Joint Favorable