HCS/HB 141 - Currently, state fees are not allowed to be collected by the beef commodity merchandising program in excess of a commensurate amount credited against a federal assessment of beef producers. This act establishes a referendum procedure for the beef commodity council to follow in order to collect state fees, which includes submitting a petition to the Director of the Department of Agriculture. Once the Director receives the petition, the Director shall perform certain tasks including determining the legal sufficiency of the petition, establishing a list of beef producers, holding a public hearing, publishing a notice to beef producers, providing forms for beef producers to register with the Department, approving or disapproving the petition, and holding a referendum. No referendum to change the amount of the fee may be held within 12 months of a referendum conducted for a similar purpose. Fees collected shall be remitted to the Missouri Beef Industry Council. This provision is identical to HCS/SS/SCS/SB 12 (2015), and is similar to HB 146 (2015), SB 138 (2015), SB 208 (2015), SB 591 (2014), HB 1496 (2014), SS/SCS/HCS/HB 1326 (2014), HCS/SB 506 (2014), and HCS/HB 1640 (2014). KAYLA CRIDER
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