Dear Fellow Texan:

Do you know who is ultimately responsible for keeping our food supply safe? If
you answered “the federal government,” or “the state health department,” think
again. A myriad of state and federal agencies are tasked with varied
responsibilities in the area of food safety and none have complete authority.

Do you know how often the gas pumps you use every day are checked to see if
they are accurate? If no one complains about them, only once every four years.

Do you know who is inspecting meat and other commodities coming into Texas
from foreign countries to see if it is free from toxic pesticides or dangerous
bacteria? Probably not who you think.

Do you know why there isn’t greater marketshare nationally for Texas agricultural
products? Do you know what elected official’s job it is to build this market?

Chances are, I’ve just asked you several questions that have made you think
about the safety and security of our food supply, whether or not you are getting
what you pay for at the gas pumps, and whether or not Texas farmers are getting
a fair shake in the global economy.

If you have doubts about these things, you aren’t alone. I do, too.

That’s why I’m running for Texas Agriculture Commissioner and why I am proud
to announce the unveiling of Advancing Markets, Protecting Consumers:
Rebuilding The Texas Department of Agriculture for the 21st Century.
This is my reform plan for the Texas Department of Agriculture.

I hope you will take a moment to read it and let me know what you think.

In Unity,
CONSUMER PROTECTION: A Renewed Focus

The Texas Department of Agriculture touches the lives of every Texan every
day.

From the fuel Texans use to get to and from work, to the food we put in our
children’s’ lunchboxes and on our dinner tables, TDA plays an important
role in consumer protection.

But, the dangers and potential of this time require turning the Texas
Department of Agriculture into an agency that truly protects consumers and
our state’s food supply in more efficient ways.

Food Safety
Under current Texas law, food safety inspections are performed by varying state
and federal agencies depending upon the type of facility being inspected, the
commodities being processed, and other factors.

This system leaves gaping vulnerabilities in our state’s food supply.

PROBLEMS: Although Texans do a good job growing and raising our own
food, the fact remains that we continue to import fruits, vegetables, meat,
and other agricultural commodities from Mexico, South America, and other
countries and states into Texas. These food products find their way into
the food supply in Texas and across the nation.

Many issues contribute to the likelihood of unsafe food in the early links of
the food chain, and Texas must do more to protect its consumers from
harm resulting from things such as:

*Producers in foreign countries that use pesticides or fertilizers

outlawed in the United States to treat fruits and vegetables.

Hank Gilbert for Texas Agriculture Commissioner

Advancing Markets, Protecting Consumers: Rebuilding The Texas Department of Agriculture for
the 21st Century
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 *The intentional or accidental misuse of regulated medicated feeds
which can cause livestock products to test positive for various
substances unhealthy for humans.

*Unsanitary conditions for agricultural workers such as defecation

in open produce fields, lack of bathroom facilities, and lack of hand
washing facilities.

BACKGROUND: Under current law, the Texas Department of Health, local

health authorities, and federal agencies are responsible in whole or in part for
various aspects of food health and safety inspections in Texas. As a result of so
many different agencies being involved, no centralized agency is either
responsible for or a repository for inspections of agricultural commodities or food
products in Texas all the way from the producer’s fields to the grocery store
shelves. While other states have such programs—and even redundancy
protections such as state inspections of meat and poultry plants to protect
citizens beyond rudimentary USDA inspections—Texas does not, and Texas’
food supply is less safe as a result.

HANK PROPOSES: Under Hank’s plan, food safety inspections

for grocery stores, convenience stores, food wholesalers and
warehouses, food processors, food manufacturers, wholesale
bakeries, beverage producers, refrigerated warehouses,
slaughterhouses, meat and poultry plants, and fish
processors, would all be centralized under the Texas
Department of Agriculture.

The TEXAS Food Safety & Security Initiative

As Commissioner, Hank will work with the legislature to institute the TEXAS Food
Safety & Security Initiative to insure that Texas’ food supply is safe from the field
to grocery store shelves. Standing for “Tested, EXamined, Approved, & Secure,”
the initiative would require:

*Texas Department of Agriculture food safety inspections for

grocery stores and convenience stores.
*TDA food safety and security inspections of food warehouses,
food processors, food manufacturers, wholesale bakeries,
beverage producers, and refrigerated warehouses.
*TDA food safety inspections of slaughterhouses, meat and poultry
plants, fish processors, and rendering plants.

Hank Gilbert for Texas Agriculture Commissioner

Advancing Markets, Protecting Consumers: Rebuilding The Texas Department of Agriculture for
the 21st Century
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The initiative would mandate that the Texas Department of Agriculture both
permit and:

*Conduct regular food safety inspections for grocery stores and

continence stores (although inspection authority for in-store
restaurants and all restaurants would remain with current
authorities).

*Conduct regular food safety and security inspections of food

warehouses, food processors, food manufacturers, wholesale
bakeries, beverage producers, and refrigerated warehouses.

*Conduct regular inspections of slaughterhouses, meat and poultry

plants, fish processors, and rendering plants.

The TEXAS Food Safety and Security Initiative would protect Texans’ food
supply from dangerous bacteria, pesticides, and tampering in a number of ways.
For example, the initiative would mandate:

*TDA inspection of a representative sample of all raw commodity

agricultural products imported into Texas from another country or
state (specifically meats, poultry, fish, vegetables, and fruit) and
testing of that sample to determine the presence of outlawed or
toxic pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides; harmful bacteria (such as
E. coli); dangerous insects or other invasive species; testing for
substances that might indicate bioterrorism.

*TDA inspection of grocery stores and continence stores to insure

the safe handling and display of agricultural commodities, and to
insure that each raw commodity sold in the store is free of toxic
pesticides, harmful bacteria, etc.

*TDA inspection of food warehouses, food processors, food

manufacturers, wholesale bakeries, beverage producers, and
refrigerated warehouses to insure both food safety but also food
security. Texas’ food manufacturers and processors must be kept
safe from the threat of those who may wish to deliberately harm our
state’s food supply.

*TDA inspection of slaughterhouses, meat and poultry plants, fish

processors, and rendering plants to insure that the meat, poultry,
and fish products do not contain toxic substances from pesticides

Hank Gilbert for Texas Agriculture Commissioner

Advancing Markets, Protecting Consumers: Rebuilding The Texas Department of Agriculture for
the 21st Century
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 or feeds, and that fish don’t contain high levels of mercury or other
substances that can cause harm when ingested.

The TEXAS Food Safety & Security Initiative would also give the Texas
Department of Agriculture new authority to keep Texans safe.

Under Hank’s plan, the Texas Department of Agriculture would have legal
authority to immediately stop the sale, processing, or use of any food product
under its jurisdiction if that product is deemed to be unfit for human or animal
consumption.

Under current law, the Texas Department of Agriculture has limited powers to
stop anything from entering the food chain—even when its inspectors enter a
factory covered in rat feces or witness a field of crops that has been treated with
an illegal poison.

Under Hank’s plan, TDA will be able to stop dangerous food products from
entering the food chain without first going through one or more state
agencies.

Weights & Measures

Are you getting what you pay for?

THE PROBLEM: Consumers across the state daily purchase gasoline,

fruits, vegetables, and other commodities sold by weight or volume.
Numerous documented incidents show that, at the gas pumps, Texas
consumers aren’t always getting what they pay for at gas pumps that are—
through mechanical error or deliberate human intervention—miscalculating
the volume of fuel sold and overcharge Texas consumers. At present,
scales, gas pumps, and similar devices are required to be inspected once
every four years or upon receipt of a complaint. As a result, Texas
consumers can’t always be sure they are getting what they pay for.

BACKGROUND: Prior to the non-substantive statutory revision of the Texas

Agriculture Code in 1981i and continuing for nearly a decade following the
revision, equipment used to sell goods by volume or weight (scales, price
scanners, and gas pumps) were required to be inspected by the Texas

Hank Gilbert for Texas Agriculture Commissioner

Advancing Markets, Protecting Consumers: Rebuilding The Texas Department of Agriculture for
the 21st Century
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Department of Agriculture annuallyii. In 1989, a major rewrite of the Texas
Agriculture Code changed the one-year re-inspection period to three yearsiii.

In 2005, the Texas Legislature, at the urging of former Agriculture Commissioner

Susan Combs, amended the Agriculture Code once again to change the period
of inspection from three to four yearsiv. According to analysis at the time, the
change would save the equivalent of the hours worked by 9.5 full time agency
employees and cost savings of less than half a million dollars annuallyv.

HANK PROPOSES: Hank Gilbert proposes rolling back the four-year annual
inspection requirement to two years—a compromise between the one year
that existed in state statute for at least half a century—and the three years
enacted in 1989.

Hank also proposes statutory changes to mandate annual inspections for

weights and measures devices habitually found to be out of compliance by
requiring that any weights or measures device found to be out of compliance
as a result of consumer complaints more than four times in the preceding 12
months be inspected annually for the following three years.

A False Sense Of Security for Consumers

THE PROBLEM: New trends in the grocery business are resulting in the
replacement of TDA inspected scales in produce departments with scales
labeled “for estimation purposes only,” which allows the scales to escape
inspection by the Texas Department of Agriculture. One purpose of in-
department scales in grocery stores is to give consumers an independent
verification of the scales used at cash registers to insure consumers aren’t
being cheated.

BACKGROUND: Over the last several years, more and more grocery stores
are replacing TDA-inspected scales with “for estimation purposes only” scales
that aren’t regulated by the Department. Whether this is to get out of
inspections or because of the optics resulting from grocery stores presenting to
their customers scales inspected every four years is unknown at this time.
Whatever the reason for the trend, it is a dangerous trend that is resulting in
less consumer protections for Texans at the grocery store.

HANK PROPOSES: Hank proposes regulating the practice of using

“estimation only” scales by requiring grocery and other stores that sell by

Hank Gilbert for Texas Agriculture Commissioner

Advancing Markets, Protecting Consumers: Rebuilding The Texas Department of Agriculture for
the 21st Century
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 weight to have at least one Department inspected and licensed scale in
each department where commodities are sold by weight. While it would
not prevent additional “estimation only” scales, those scales would be
accompanied by licensed scales and all stores would be required to mark
“estimation only” scales with a notice stating, “THIS SCALE IS NOT
INSPECTED OR REGULATED BY THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF
AGRICULTURE AND MAY NOT RESULT IN AN ACCURATE
MEASUREMENT. BY LAW, THIS FACILITY IS REQUIRED TO DISPLAY
A DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE INSPECTED SCALE IN EVERY
AREA OF THE STORE WHERE UNPACKAGED COMMODITIES ARE
SOLD BY WEIGHT. IF THIS STORE DOES NOT DISPLAY SUCH A
SCALE, PLEASE CONTACT THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF
AGRICULTURE AT [INSERT 800 NUMBER].”

More False Security At The Gas Pump

THE PROBLEM: As a result of four-year inspections, many gasoline

retailers have resorted to having pumps inspected (or claiming to have
pumps inspected) and by private vendors that certify the pumps are not
cheating consumers—since state mandated inspections are few and far
between without complaints. This gives a false sense of security to
consumers.

BACKGROUND: Four years is a long time for a gas pump to go without

inspection—especially when consumers examine that in light of the fact that their
motor vehicles must be inspected annually. As a result, for likely altruistic
reasons, major gasoline retailers have started marking their pumps as having
been independently inspected and certified as pumping the right amount of
gasoline. The state and the consumer have no way of verifying this information.

HANK PROPOSES: Hank has no objection to fuel retailers who want to go

the extra mile to show consumers that they are getting what they pay for.
However, Hank believes the retailers and consumers need an added level
of protection. Therefore, as Commissioner, Hank would require that any fuel
pump inspected by a private firm and certified as dispensing the proper
amounts of fuel be both tested using the same standards employed by the
Department of Agriculture, and that the firm conducting the tests be
licensed with the Texas Department of Agriculture. Hank would work to
institute stiff penalties for companies who want to cheat retailers and
consumers by lulling them into a false sense of security in between state-
mandated inspection timelines.

Hank Gilbert for Texas Agriculture Commissioner

Advancing Markets, Protecting Consumers: Rebuilding The Texas Department of Agriculture for
the 21st Century
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More Weights & Measures Reform

Hank also proposes:

·Requiring that all fuel pumps, scales, and other devices designed
to determine the weight or volume of commodities sold by weight or
volume display a simple sticker directing that consumer complaints
about the accuracy of the devices may be directed to the Texas
Department of Agriculture and providing an 800 number for such
reporting.

·Increased fines and criminal penalties for retailers whose fuel

pumps, scales, and scanners are found to be out of compliance.

·THREE STRIKES FOR HABITUAL FUEL CHEATERS. Hank

proposes that, if a fuel retailer is found out of compliance as a result
of consumer complaints more than three times in a 12-month
period, that it be mandatory that the agency pursue misdemeanor
criminal charges against the retailer in the court of appropriate
jurisdiction. This represents a real, substantive change to a zero
tolerance policy regarding those who cheat Texas consumers.

Agency Reform & Restructuring

Under existing Texas law, a number of functions which should be under the
direction of the Texas Department of Agriculture rest with private universities, the
Texas AgriLife Extension Program, or under independent state agencies, boards,
and commissions. Hank proposes restructuring these agricultural programs
under the umbrella of the Texas Department of agriculture.

Hank proposes moving the Texas Forest Service under the

control of the Texas Department of Agriculture.

Since 1915, the Texas Forest Service has been key to maintaining and
protecting Texas’ forests and has operated under the control of Texas A&M
University. Under Hank’s plan, the existing Texas Forest Service would move
under the Texas Department of Agriculture. Forestry is a part of our state’s
agricultural market and landscape, and as such, the agency should be joined
with TDA.

Hank Gilbert for Texas Agriculture Commissioner

Advancing Markets, Protecting Consumers: Rebuilding The Texas Department of Agriculture for
the 21st Century
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 Hank proposes moving the Texas Animal Health Commission
under the control of the Texas Department of Agriculture.

Under Hank’s plan, TAHC would become part of the Texas Department of
Agriculture and be renamed as the Texas Department of Agriculture Bureau of
Animal Health. It would maintain an independent advisory board—appointed by
the Agriculture Commissioner—but would no longer be an independent state
agency.

The functions of the Texas Animal Health commission—which are essentially to

protect the health of Texas livestock—are key to agriculture and Texas and as
such should be married with the state’s main agriculture agency. Texas farmers
and ranchers shouldn’t have to be shuffled between multiple agencies for the
assistance they need to keep pests from becoming a problem with livestock.

Too, the TAHC’s legislative authority to make and enforce regulations to prevent,
control, and eradicate infections animal diseases would be transferred to the
Texas Department of Agriculture.

Hank proposes moving the Texas Wildlife Services from Texas

AgriLife Extension (and all feral hog abatement programs) under
the control of the Texas Department of Agriculture.

Under Hank’s plan, the Texas Wildlife Services, which is given authority under
the Texas Health and Safety Code to protect the state’s agricultural, industrial,
and natural resources from damage caused by wildlife, would come under the
Texas Department of Agriculture.

Additionally, all state funds spent on feral hog eradication and all feral hog
eradication programs would be administered by the Texas Department of
Agriculture as a result of this move. At present, TDA issues millions in grants
funding to AgriLife Extension and other agencies for feral hog eradication. Hank
believes that the best way to fight the menace of feral hogs is to centralize the
duty for their eradication—and funding for their eradication—under the umbrella
of one agency that will then have the power to make grants to local government
entities and engage in other programs to eradicate feral hogs under the guise of
a multi-year master plan for feral hog eradication.

Hank Gilbert for Texas Agriculture Commissioner

Advancing Markets, Protecting Consumers: Rebuilding The Texas Department of Agriculture for
the 21st Century
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 Hank proposes moving offshore and commercial
aquaculture and commercial fishing regulation from the
Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission to the Texas
Department of Agriculture.

In order to insure complete food safety and security, Hank proposes that the
existing Agriculture Code authority being exercised by Texas Parks and Wildlife
be transferred to the Texas Department of Agriculture in order to best protect
Texans.

Hank proposes passage of the Limited Agricultural Cooperatives

Act, legislation allowing the creation of agricultural cooperatives
which give members Greater control over product pricing and
enhanced market flexibility.

The passage of the Limited Agricultural Cooperatives Act would help farmers and
ranchers in rural Texas obtain capital necessary to establish and expand
agricultural cooperatives by allowing investment by non-agricultural investors.

The creation of these cooperatives in rural Texas is necessary to allow farmers to

pool resources to promote their combined interests through marketing and
distribution. This action will promote an increase in rural economic development
and spur outside investment.

Allowing the creation of such cooperatives will generate for increased funding for
biofuel and biomass initiatives involving agricultural products.

Hank proposes creating an Office of Inspector General within

the Texas Department of Agriculture.

Every biennium, the Texas Department of Agriculture processes or disburses

millions of dollars worth of grant and other funding for programs ranging from
feral hog eradication to nutrition programs.

Additionally, because the Texas Department of Agriculture is tasked with

enforcement of dozens of laws, and many more administrative penalties, Hank
believes an Office of Inspector General is necessary to preserve the integrity of

Hank Gilbert for Texas Agriculture Commissioner

Advancing Markets, Protecting Consumers: Rebuilding The Texas Department of Agriculture for
the 21st Century
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the agency, protect consumers, protect the environment, and keep a watchful
eye on taxpayer funds.

Under Hank’s plan, the Inspector General would relieve the TDA General
Counsel’s office of oversight and processing of the legal aspects of all
administrative and legal complaints relating to the various laws and
administrative regulations TDA enforces. Additionally, the Office of Inspector
General would have investigative authority to investigate misuse of TDA
disbursed funds.

Reforming GO TEXAN & Other Agricultural Marketing Programs

As part of Hank’s overall reform plan for TDA, Hank will reform and restructure
the existing GO TEXAN and similar marketing programs. The reform package for
these marketing programs will be released in August of 2010.

Protecting Texas Landowners: Eminent Domain

Reform
In recent years, massive transportation projects, multi-national pipelines, and
more have threatened to destroy family farms and ranches across Texas by
allowing the state or private companies to seize land using eminent domain.
Hank has been a strident opponent to ED expansion and has fought continuously
for enhanced protections for property owners. Even though Texas voters have
approved a constitutional amendment in recent years to provide some eminent
domain reform, it still contains loopholes that must be closed.

Under Hank’s plan, Texas farmers, ranchers, and landowners will have more
protections than ever before from eminent domain abuses.

Hank proposes establishing the Office Of Farm and Ranch Land

Preservation under the Texas Department of Agriculture to operate
the Department’s new eminent domain protection programs.

Under the Office of Farm and Ranch Land Preservation, Hank

proposes two new programs: The Agricultural Preservation Areas
Program and The Agricultural Easements Program.

The Agriculture Preservation Areas Program. This program will establish the
statutory authority for landowners, counties, and the state to preserve farm and
ranch land from development for successive ten year periods. Modeled after the

Hank Gilbert for Texas Agriculture Commissioner

Advancing Markets, Protecting Consumers: Rebuilding The Texas Department of Agriculture for
the 21st Century
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successful Agriculture Security Areas Program in use in Ohio, the APA program
will allow the preservation of farm and ranchland consisting of at least 500
contiguous acres.

One or multiple landowners with at least 500 contiguous acres of farm or ranch
land located in unincorporated areas who haven’t committed civil or criminal
violations of conservation, pesticide, or similar laws within the last ten years may
apply so long as the farming or ranching on the land is conducted in accordance
with best practices established by the Texas Department of Agriculture.

Upon application to the Texas Department of Agriculture and the County

Commissioner’s Court of the county in which the land is located, land subject to
approved applications will be subject to the following protections:

*No new roads, utility, or pipe lines may be installed on the land without
approval from the Texas Department of Agriculture’s Office Of Farm and
Ranch Land Protection.

*Improvements on the land for agricultural purposes and improvements

relating to the development of biofuel or biomass feedstocks make the
land eligible for up to a 50 percent tax exemption on improvements at the
discretion of the County Commissioners when said development begins at
least one year after the designation.

*Non-agricultural development is prevented within the APA (excluding

single-family homesteads) is prohibited for ten years without permission
from the Office of Farm and Ranch Land Protection.

The Office of Farm and Ranch Land Protection will provide guidance and
technical assistance to landowners seeking to enroll in the program and assist
APA landowners in understanding the full measure of agricultural development
opportunities available to them.

The Agricultural Easements Program. Under this program, the Office of Farm
and Ranch Land Preservation will be granted the authority to obtain and hold—
through purchase or donation—agricultural easements to allow land to remain
predominantly in agricultural production. The Department of Agriculture would
receive the statutory authority to take necessary steps to retain the agricultural
land gifted or acquired and continue agricultural production on that land including
but not limited to lease or rental of the property to persons who wish to engage
the land in agricultural production. The land may also be sold or leased to young
farmers with provisions providing for a permanent agricultural easement so the
land may not be sold for profit or otherwise leveraged in a way that will take it out
of agricultural production. The state will retain repurchase rights to the land.

Hank Gilbert for Texas Agriculture Commissioner

Advancing Markets, Protecting Consumers: Rebuilding The Texas Department of Agriculture for
the 21st Century
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Additionally, Hank proposes that all state and local government bodies and
agencies will be required to consult with the Office of Farm and Ranch
Land Preservation before any agricultural land is taken for use for a public
transportation or other public project by use of eminent domain, and that
the Department of Agriculture will have the statutory authority to stop any
seizure of farm or ranch land through eminent domain if it determines that
seizure is detrimental to Texas Agriculture or the safety and security of the
state’s food system.

Reforming The Texas Agricultural Finance

Authority To Expand Economic Development

While the 81st Texas Legislature enacted some reforms to help move the Texas
Agricultural Finance authority out of a lengthy period of difficulty, there remain
other programs the TAFA could devise to help better promote agriculture in
Texas.

Hank proposes the creation of the Texas Agricultural Infrastructure

& Economic Development Fund to provide incentives to bring
agribusiness to Texas, to help create small and medium sized
agribusinesses, and to help keep agricultural business in Texas.

Under Hank’s plan, the Texas Agricultural Investment & Development Fund
(Texas AID) would be funded through legislative appropriation. Hank proposes
an initial investment of $300 million in the fund.

Texas AID funds would be utilized to attract agricultural business investment to

Texas, help existing agricultural businesses expand, and help keep existing
agricultural business in Texas by helping fund expansion, local tax and
development incentives, and local infrastructure development.

Under Hank’s plan, Texas AID funds would be awarded based on job creation,
economic impact of the agricultural business to the community, the impact the

Hank Gilbert for Texas Agriculture Commissioner

Advancing Markets, Protecting Consumers: Rebuilding The Texas Department of Agriculture for
the 21st Century
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business has or will have one expanding markets for Texas agricultural products,
and other matrices related to the economic impact of the business.

Hank proposes increasing the Texas Young Farmer Grant

program to include grants up to $50,000.00

Even when paired with matching funds required to participate in the program,
grants of $5,000 to $10,000 don’t go far at a time of rising costs and increasing
financial burdens on agricultural producers. Under Hank’s plan, young farmers
will actually be able to apply for meaningful funds to help grow their family farms,
ranches, and agribusinesses.

Hank Gilbert for Texas Agriculture Commissioner

Advancing Markets, Protecting Consumers: Rebuilding The Texas Department of Agriculture for
the 21st Century
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i
Revisor’s Report, Texas Agriculture Code, Texas Legislative Council, 1981.
ii
House Bill 1436, 67th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature.
iii
Senate Bill 489, as Enrolled, 71st Regular Session of the Texas Legislature, p. 19
iv
House Bill 2382, 78th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature.
v
Fiscal Note, House Bill 2382, 78th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature.