BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1976|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1976
Author: Irwin (D) and Williams (D)
Amended: 6/22/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE: 5-0, 6/21/16
AYES: Galgiani, Cannella, Berryhill, Pan, Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 4/14/16 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Food and agriculture: marketing advisory and
promotional boards, councils, and commissions
SOURCE: California Avocado Commission
DIGEST: This bill exempts California agricultural advisory
boards, commissions, and councils from the Bagley-Keene Open
Meeting Act requirement that each teleconference location be
identified. This bill also reduces the number of handler members
on the California Avocado Commission (CAC) and reduces the time
permitted to submit producer information to the California
Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA).
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Requires that all meetings of a state body be conducted
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openly and allow all persons to attend any meeting, with
exceptions (Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, Government Code §
11120 et seq.).
2) Permits a state body from holding a meeting by
teleconference if, among other conditions, each
teleconference location is identified in the notice and
agenda of the meeting.
3) Establishes the CAC, composed of 10 producers and four
handlers elected by the industry and one public member
appointed by CDFA.
4) Divides California into five districts representing
approximately 20% of the avocado production.
5) Provides for CAC membership, voting procedures, duties and
powers, assessment rates, recordkeeping, quality standards,
penalties, and referendum procedures including continuance
and termination.
This bill:
1) Exempts California agricultural advisory boards,
commissions, and councils from the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting
Act requirement that for teleconference meetings, each
teleconference location be identified.
2) Finds and declares that this exemption would impose a
limitation on the public's right of access to meetings;
however, in order for these governmental bodies to hold
meetings and make timely decisions, it is in the state's
interest to revise requirements for teleconferences to
encourage participation by directors.
3) Decreases from four to two the number of avocado handlers
elected to the CAC.
4) Decreases from two to one the number of alternate handler
members.
5) Decreases from eleven to nine the number of voting members
if the CAC consists of three or four districts and ten voting
members if the CAC consists of five districts.
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6) Deletes the provision allowing any handler handling 30% or
more of the volume of avocados to appoint a handler member to
the CAC.
7) Requires a vacancy of a member position on the CAC to be
filled by a majority vote of the CAC.
8) Deletes the provision that a producer seeking election in
one district shall not seek election in any other district
for four years.
9) Requires handlers to submit names, mailing addresses, grove
location, and handled volume to the secretary within 60 days
of the request.
10)Makes technical changes.
Background
The CAC was created in 1978 to benefit California and the
industry by addressing advertising, promotion, research, quality
and maturity standards, crop statistics, and public education
(Food and Agricultural Code § 67001 et seq.).
California leads the nation in avocado production, where in
2014, 54,000 acres were harvested with a farm gate value of $3.3
million.
The Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act ensures that the actions and
deliberations of state agencies be conducted openly (Government
Code § 11120 et seq.). All meetings shall be publically
available for any person to attend, with exceptions for
closed-door sessions. If a meeting is held via teleconference,
it shall comply with the following requirements:
The meeting shall be audibly accessible at the location
specified in the meeting notice.
Agendas shall be posted at all teleconference locations.
Each teleconference location shall be identified in the notice
and agenda and be accessible to the public.
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All votes shall be taken by roll call.
At least one member shall be physically present at the
location specified in the meeting notice.
Comments
Need for this bill. This bill, in part, ratifies the action
taken by the CAC board on October 15, 2015. At this meeting,
the board raised concern that the new board seat configuration
enacted by AB 958 could potentially give handlers a larger
percentage of the total board votes than was previously
established. The board shared letters of support from the
handler community that showed a general consensus for reducing
the number of handler members on the CAC board. The board then
voted unanimously to reduce the number of handler members from
four to two, with one handler alternate member.
This bill also exempts agricultural commissions, councils, and
advisory boards from the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act
requirement that for teleconferenced meetings, each
teleconference location be identified on the meeting's notice
and agenda. Supporters of this bill state that it is
impractical to include the address for each location and that
participation by directors will be adversely affected. For
example, a director could not continue their participation if
they moved to a different location for any reason. Also, if a
director cannot participate, it may cause the meeting to be
cancelled which adversely affects timely decision making by
programs.
Public Access. By exempting agricultural state bodies from the
telecommunication location requirements as stated above, this
bill imposes a limitation on the public's right of access to
meetings. This bill finds that these limitations are needed to
protect the state's interest to encourage participation by
directors, many of which are located in remote areas that are
difficult for the public to access.
Commissions and Councils. There are approximately 16 active
commissions and councils, all of which are governed by boards of
directors and overseen by the California Department of Food and
Agriculture (CDFA). These entities were created to enhance
their industries by investing in promotion, advertising,
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education, marketing research, scientific research, and/or the
creation and regulation of quality standards. Generally,
commissions and councils are initiated by the industry and go
into effect following an affirmative industry referendum vote
and, at times, a periodic vote to reaffirm their existence.
Once in effect, every member of the industry, as specified, is
required to follow all laws and regulations including, but not
limited to, the payment of assessment fees.
Unlike marketing orders and marketing agreements, commissions
and councils are created through commodity-specific legislation.
Generally, councils are advisory to CDFA and all actions are
subject to CDFA approval. Commissions have greater autonomy and
do not serve an advisory purpose; however, CDFA must concur with
their annual budget and activities statement, and CDFA has the
authority to issue cease and desist orders to commission actions
that CDFA deems to not be in the public interest.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified8/2/16)
California Avocado Commission (source)
California Apple Commission
California Blueberry Commission
California Cut Flower Commission
California Date Commission
California Rice Commission
California Sheep Commission
California Strawberry Commission
California Walnut Commission
Olive Oil Commission of California
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/2/16)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, "This bill is
intended to codify a motion that was unanimously approved by the
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California Avocado Commission (CAC) Board in 2015 and removes
the requirement to post physical locations for teleconferences
by an agricultural marketing board or industry council.
The CAC has served for over 35 years as the official information
source for California avocados and the California avocado
industry. As the industry has evolved over time, the commission
and the Legislature have taken actions to reflect modern
changes. Last year, AB 958 changed the membership and district
reapportionment to modernize the commission and provide it with
more flexibility to adapt. This bill builds on that to codify
motions by the Board that better proportionately represent the
handlers-to-producers ratio on the commission and change how
commission vacancies are filled to match other commodity boards.
Many members of agricultural marketing boards or industry
councils reside in remote locations across the state which make
teleconference meetings among members especially convenient.
However, many members may call from a vehicle or need to move
locations due to last minute emergencies. As the purpose of
having a teleconference is to accommodate members to
participate, posting a physical location creates an undue burden
for the group who may not have one and therefore be in violation
of the law. This bill does not change the requirement that
phone numbers be provided for public participation, but only
removes the posted location obligation."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 4/14/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,
Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth
Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto,
Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper,
Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey,
Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty,
Medina, Mullin, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark
Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams,
Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Irwin, Levine, Melendez, Nazarian
Prepared by:Anne Megaro / AGRI. / (916) 651-1508
8/3/16 18:09:01
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