HOUSE BILL REPORT

EHB 2924

BYRepresentatives Sayan, Belcher, Ferguson, Anderson, Jacobsen, Phillips, Winsley and Nelson

Regulating wild mushroom sales.

House Committe on Natural Resources & Parks

Majority Report:  Do pass as amended.  (11)

      Signed by Representatives Belcher, Chair; K. Wilson, Vice Chair; Beck, Ranking Republican Member, Brumsickle, Dellwo, Ferguson, Fuhrman, Hargrove, Myers, Raiter and Sayan.

House Staff:Marilee Scarbrough (786-7196)

AS PASSED HOUSE FEBRUARY 9, 1990

BACKGROUND:

The Wild Mushroom Harvesting and Processing Act created a licensing program for the commercial mushroom industry.  The information on commercial harvesting obtained through the licensing procedure, provides data on the quantity of wild mushrooms harvested each season.  When the act was originally passed, commercial mushroom processing involved three distinct components.  There was a mushroom harvester, the person who picked the mushrooms; a mushroom buyer, who bought the mushrooms from a mushroom picker; and there was a mushroom processor, who sorted and brined the mushrooms.

Since enactment of the Wild Mushroom Harvesting and Processing Act, the procedure involved in the processing of mushrooms has changed.  Buyers now sell to individuals who sell the product overseas in fresh form. Processing consists of repackaging the product rather than washing, sorting and brining, as was the previous custom.  Therefore, the term mushroom processor is no longer applicable.

SUMMARY:

The terms used in the Mushroom Harvesting and Processing Act are clarified.  The term mushroom dealer is substituted for the term mushroom processor throughout the act.

Fiscal Note:      Not Requested.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Ralph Hayford, South Sound Mushroom Club.

House Committee - Testified Against:      No one.

House Committee - Testimony For:    The term "processor" in the Wild Mushroom Harvesting Act is causing difficulty.  Changing the definition will correct the problem.  The problem is that most of the major commercial mushroom companies no longer process mushrooms.  Changing the term from mushroom "processor" to "dealer" will alleviate the interpretation problem.  This change will allow the Department of Agriculture to properly issue licenses.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      None.