83R9634 SCL-F
By: Williams S.B. No. 964
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the appropriation of amounts deposited into the oyster
sales account and the abolishment of the oyster advisory committee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 436.103(e) and (f), Health and Safety
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(e) Before any other disposition of the fees and penalties
collected under this section is made, two percent of the amount of
the fees and penalties shall be deposited in the state treasury for
appropriation for the use of the comptroller in the administration
and enforcement of this section. The remainder of the fees and
penalties collected under this section shall be deposited to the
credit of the oyster sales account in the general revenue fund to be
allocated each year for oyster-related activities, including:
(1) collecting bay water and shellfish meat samples;
(2) contracting for sample analysis for
classification and opening or closing of oyster harvesting areas;
(3) marking the boundaries of areas that are
designated open or closed under this subchapter;
(4) studying oyster diseases and other concerns
affecting the availability of oysters for harvest;
(5) studying and analyzing organisms that may be
associated with human illness and that can be transmitted through
the consumption of oysters;
(6) contributing to the support of the oyster shell
recovery and replacement program created under Section 76.020,
Parks and Wildlife Code [promotion and advertising of the Texas
oyster industry by the Texas Department of Agriculture, including
information, education, and training to consumers on safe and
proper handling of oysters]; and
(7) other oyster-related activities authorized or
required by this chapter.
(f) After deducting the amount deposited into the state
treasury for the comptroller's use under Subsection (e), the
comptroller at the beginning of each state fiscal year shall
appropriate $100,000 of the unencumbered balance deposited to the
credit of the oyster sales account in the general revenue fund to
Texas A&M University at Galveston for use in performing the
activities described by Subsection (e)(5). The remainder of the
money [Money] in the oyster sales account may [shall first] be
appropriated only for the purposes described by Subsection (e)
[allocated for funding the public health activities of bay water
and shellfish meat sample collection and analysis and wholesale,
retail, and consumer education before money is allocated for
research or promotion].
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 47, Agriculture Code, is
repealed, and the oyster advisory committee established under
Section 47.002, Agriculture Code, is abolished on the effective
date of this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.