The Texas Agriculture Code (the Code), Chapter 74, Subchapter D, 74.115, as amended by Senate Bill 631, enacted by the 76th Legislature, 1999 (Senate Bill 631), provides that the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation, Inc. (the foundation) may develop a compliance certificate program to manage the payment and collection of an assessment levied under the Code, Chapter 74, Subchapter D, and, subject to rules adopted by the Texas Department of Agriculture ( the department) and the Commissioner of Agriculture (the commissioner), may issue a compliance certificate for cotton for which an assessment has been paid. In addition, 74.115(d), as amended, provides for an assessment lien in favor of the foundation in the amount of an assessment that is due and unpaid. A cotton buyer takes free of the assessment lien if the buyer receives a compliance certificate issued by the foundation that certifies that the assessment has been paid to the foundation or if the buyer pays for the cotton by a check on which the department is named as a joint payee.