HOUSE BILL REPORT

SB 6576

BYSenator Metcalf

Making changes regarding harvesting of wild mushrooms.

House Committe on Natural Resources & Parks

Majority Report:  Do pass.  (10)

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

House Staff:Marilee Scarbrough (786-7196)

AS PASSED HOUSE FEBRUARY 26, 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 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  Therefore, the term mushroom processor is no longer applicable.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 M. Hayford, South Sound Mushroom Club.

House Committee - Testified Against:      No one.

House Committee - Testimony For:    This legislation is a companion bill to HB 2924.  The substance of both versions of the bill are the same.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      None.