Senate Agriculture Committee advances Department of Agriculture maintenance bill altering Title 3 licensing and record rules

The Senate Agriculture Committee reviewed Senate Bill 311, a Department of Agriculture maintenance bill that would amend portions of Title 3 governing plant industries and pesticides.

The committee chair summarized the bill as removing a provision that required the Department of Agriculture to issue biannual licenses for $100 — a change tied to software that no longer supports biannual licenses — and eliminating a requirement that certified private pesticide applicators maintain records for inspection by the department. The chair also said the bill expands the definition of “landscaper” to include commercial entities that install their own nursery stock and removes a requirement that grain inspector applicants furnish “satisfactory evidence of good character.”

Committee staff reported there were no registered public commenters on SB311. Committee members raised no substantive questions during the presentation, and the chair moved on to the next agenda item.

The committee approved prior meeting minutes and indicated that the bill backers for items discussed at the session had been passed; the record does not include a roll‑call vote on SB311 in the transcript provided.