BILL NUMBER: AB 1976 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 13, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Irwin
FEBRUARY 16, 2016
An act to amend Sections 67051, 67052, 67052.3, 67053, 67054,
67059, 67081, and 67132 of 67132 of,
and to repeal Section 67051.1 of, the Food and
Agriculture Agricultural Code, relating to
avocados.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1976, as amended, Irwin. California Avocado Commission.
Existing law establishes the California Avocado Commission within
the state government, and requires the commission to establish no
fewer than 3 districts and no more than 5 districts within the state,
each representing approximately the same percentage of avocado
production in California. Existing law requires the commission to
consist of a specified number of producers who are not handlers,
based on the number of districts the commission establishes, 4
handlers who are elected on a statewide basis, one public member, and
the Secretary of Food and Agriculture, and requires there to be 2
alternate handler members. Existing law requires a vacancy of a
member position on the commission to be filled by the alternate
member. Existing law authorizes certain handlers who handle a
specified percentage of volume of avocados to appoint one
handler member to the commission and the other handlers to nominate
and elect the remaining handler members.
This bill would instead require a vacancy of a member
position be filled by a majority vote of the commission. The bill
would decrease the number of handlers on the commission to 2
members and the number of alternate handler members to one member.
The bill would remove the authorization for the specified
handlers to appoint a handler member.
Existing law requires producer members and alternate producer
members, at the time of the election, to have a financial interest in
producing, or causing to be produced, avocados for market within the
district in which the producer stands for election. Existing law
prohibits a producer who chooses to stand for election in a
particular district from standing for election in any other district
for a period of 4 years from the date of his or her most recent
election to the commission.
This bill would delete this prohibition on the producer.
Existing law provides that a quorum of the commission is 11 voting
members if the commission consists of 3 or 5 districts, and is 10
voting members if the commission consists of 4 districts. Existing
law authorizes the commission to recommend to the secretary that the
operations of the commission be suspended upon a specified finding of
11 voting members if the commission consists of 3 or 5 districts, or
10 voting members if the commission consists of 4 districts.
This bill would instead provide that a quorum of the commission is
9 voting members if the commission consists of 3 or 4 districts, and
is 10 voting members if the commission consists of 5 districts. The
bill would make a similar change to the authorization of the
commission to recommend suspension.
Existing law requires the secretary to establish a list of
producers in each district and, in establishing the lists, requires
handlers to file, within 90 days following receipt of a written
request by the secretary, certain information about each producer
from whom the handler purchased or handled avocados.
This bill would require handlers to file the information,
including the grove location of each producer instead of district
numbers, within 60 days.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 67051 of the Food and Agricultural Code is
amended to read:
67051. (a) There is in the state government the California
Avocado Commission.
(b) The commission shall be composed of the following members:
(1) (A) If the commission consists of three districts, nine
producers who are not handlers, three elected from each district.
(B) If the commission consists of four districts, eight producers
who are not handlers, two elected from each district.
(C) If the commission consists of five districts, 10 producers who
are not handlers, two elected from each district.
(2) Two avocado handlers elected on a statewide basis.
(3) One public member who shall be appointed to the commission by
the secretary from nominees recommended by the commission.
(4) The secretary who shall be a nonvoting ex officio member of
the commission.
SEC. 2. Section 67051.1 of the Food and
Agricultural Code is repealed.
67051.1. Notwithstanding Section 67051, any handler that handles
30 percent or more of the volume of avocados in the preceding
marketing season, as annually determined by the secretary, may
appoint one handler member to the commission. All other handlers
shall nominate and elect the remaining handler members pursuant to
this chapter. Any handler appointed to the commission pursuant to
this section shall maintain his or her eligibility under this section
during the entire term of office. Any vacancy caused by the
ineligibility of the handler shall be filled in accordance with
Section 67053.
SEC. 2. SEC. 3. Section 67052 of the
Food and Agricultural Code is amended to read:
67052. (a) Each district shall have one alternate producer
member, to be elected in the same manner as producer members.
(b) The alternate producer member shall, in the absence of a
producer member from the same district, sit in place of the absent
producer member on the commission and shall have, and be able to
exercise, all the rights, privileges, and powers of the producer
member when sitting on the commission.
SEC. 3. SEC. 4. Section 67052.3 of
the Food and Agricultural Code is amended to read:
67052.3. (a) There shall be one alternate handler member to be
elected in the same manner as the handler members.
(b) The alternate handler member shall, in the absence of a
handler member, sit in place of the absent handler member on the
commission and shall have, and be able to exercise, all the rights,
privileges, and powers of the handler member when sitting on the
commission.
SEC. 5. Section 67053 of the Food and
Agricultural Code is amended to read:
67053. (a) Any vacancy of a member position on
the commission occurring for any reason including
by the failure of any person elected to the
commission as a member or alternate member to continue in his
or her position due to a change in status making him or her
ineligible to serve, or through death, removal, or resignation, shall
be filled, for the unexpired portion of the term, by the
alternate member for that position.
(b) Any vacancy of
an alternate member position on the commission occurring for any
reason, including the alternate's move to the member position or the
failure of any alternate member to continue in his or her position
due to a change in status making him or her ineligible to serve, or
through death, removal, or resignation, shall be filled for the
unexpired portion of the term by a a majority
vote of the commission.
(c)
(b) Any person filling a vacant member or alternate
member position shall fulfill meet all
the qualifications set forth in this article as required for the
member or alternate member. whose office he
or she is to fill.
SEC. 6. Section 67054 of the Food and
Agricultural Code is amended to read:
67054. (a) Producer members and alternate producer members on the
commission shall have a financial interest in producing, or causing
to be produced, avocados for market. In order to be elected a member
or alternate member, a producer shall, at the time of the election,
have a financial interest in the production of avocados within the
district in which the producer stands for election.
(b) A producer may stand for election in any district in which the
producer has a financial interest in the production of avocados.
(c) A producer who chooses to stand for election in a particular
district shall not stand for election in any other district for a
period of four years from the date of his or her most recent election
to the commission. However, this subdivision does not apply in an
election to fill vacancies created by the reapportionment of
districts pursuant to Section 67042.
(d)
(c) Handler members and the alternate handler members
shall have a financial interest in handling avocados for markets.
(e)
(d) The public member shall not have any financial
interest in the avocado industry. Except for the nomination of
another public member, the public member and his or her alternate
member on the commission shall have all the powers, rights, and
privileges of any other member on the commission.
SEC. 4. SEC. 7. Section 67059 of the
Food and Agricultural Code is amended to read:
67059. Unless otherwise specified, a quorum of the commission
shall be any nine voting members if the commission consists of three
or four districts and any 10 voting members if the commission
consists of five districts. The vote of a majority of members present
at a meeting at which there is a quorum shall constitute the act of
the commission.
SEC. 5. SEC. 8. Section 67081 of the
Food and Agricultural Code is amended to read:
67081. (a) The secretary shall establish a list of producers in
each district. In establishing the lists, the secretary shall require
that handlers in the state submit the names, mailing addresses,
grove location, and handled volume of each producer from whom they
purchased or handled avocados in the preceding marketing season. The
request for information from handlers shall be in writing and shall
be filed by the handlers within 60 days following receipt of the
written request.
(b) Any producer of avocados whose name does not appear upon the
secretary's list of producers may have his or her name established on
the list by filing with the commission a signed statement,
identifying himself or herself as a producer. Failure to be on the
list does not exempt the producer from paying assessments under this
chapter.
SEC. 6. SEC. 9. Section 67132 of the
Food and Agricultural Code is amended to read:
67132. Upon the finding of nine voting members of the commission
if the commission consists of three or four districts, or of 10
voting members of the commission if the commission consists of five
districts, that this chapter has not tended to effectuate its
declared purposes, the commission may recommend to the secretary that
the operations of the commission shall be suspended, provided that
the suspension shall not become effective until the expiration of the
current marketing season. The secretary shall, upon receipt of the
recommendation, or upon a petition filed with him or her requesting
the suspension, signed by 15 percent of the producers by number who
produced not less than 15 percent of the volume in the immediately
preceding year, cause a referendum to be conducted among the listed
producers to determine if the operation of this chapter and the
operations of the commission shall be suspended, and shall establish
a referendum period, which shall not be less than 10 days nor more
than 60 days in duration. The secretary is authorized to prescribe
any additional procedure necessary to conduct the referendum. At the
close of the established referendum period, the secretary shall
tabulate the ballots filed during the period. If at least 40 percent
of the total number of producers, on a list established by the
secretary marketing 40 percent of the total volume marketed by all
producers during the last completed marketing season, participate in
the referendum, the secretary shall suspend this chapter upon the
expiration of the current marketing season, if he or she finds either
one of the following:
(a) Sixty-five percent or more of the producers who voted in the
referendum voted in favor of the suspension, and the producers so
voting marketed 51 percent or more of the total quantity of avocados
marketed in the preceding marketing season by all of the producers
who voted in the referendum.
(b) Fifty-one percent or more of the producers who voted in the
referendum voted in favor of suspension, and the producers so voting
marketed 65 percent or more of the total quantity of avocados
marketed in the preceding season by all of the producers who voted in
the referendum.