(a) Upon a finding by a two-thirds vote of the commission board of directors that the commission has not tended to effectuate its declared purposes, the commission may recommend to the secretary that the operation of the commission be suspended. Any suspension shall not become effective until expiration of the current marketing season.
(b) (1) The secretary shall, upon receipt of a recommendation, or may, after a public hearing to review a petition described in paragraph (2) requesting the suspension, cause a referendum to be conducted among the listed growers and processors to determine if the operation of the commission shall be suspended. The secretary shall not hold a referendum as a result of a petition described in paragraph (2) unless the petitioner shows by the weight of evidence that the implementation of this chapter has not effectuated its declared purposes.
(2) A petition filed requesting suspension of the operation of the commission shall be signed by at least 15 percent of the growers and at least 15 percent of the processors, by number, who also cultivate and process at least 15 percent of the total volume of agave in the preceding marketing season.
(c) The secretary shall establish a referendum period, which shall not be less than 10 days or more than 60 days in duration. The secretary may prescribe additional procedures necessary to conduct the referendum. At the close of the established referendum period, the secretary shall tabulate the ballots filed during the period. The secretary shall suspend the operation of the commission if the secretary finds both of the following:
(1) At least 40 percent of the total number of growers from the list established by the secretary participate, and that either of the following occurs:
(A) Sixty-five percent of the growers that voted in the referendum voted in favor of suspension, and the growers so voting grew a majority of the total quantity of agave cultivated in the preceding marketing season by all of the growers voting in the referendum.
(B) A majority of the growers that voted in the referendum voted in favor of suspension, and the growers so voting grew 65 percent or more of the total quantity of agave cultivated in the preceding marketing season by all of the growers voting in the referendum.
(2) At least 40 percent of the total number of processors from the list established by the secretary participate, and that either of the following occurs:
(A) Sixty-five percent of the processors that voted in the referendum voted in favor of suspension, and the processors so voting processed a majority of the total quantity of agave processed in the preceding marketing season by all of the processors voting in the referendum.
(B) A majority of the processors that voted in the referendum voted in favor of suspension, and the processors so voting processed 65 percent or more of the total quantity of agave processed in the preceding marketing season by all of the processors voting in the referendum.
(Added by Stats. 2024, Ch. 725, Sec. 1. (AB 2606) Effective January 1, 2025.)