Section 77883 Of Article 8. Continuation Or Suspension And Termination From California Food And Agricultural Code >> Division 22. >> Part 2. >> Chapter 19. >> Article 8.
77883
. (a) Upon a finding by a 2/3 vote of the membership of the
commission that the operation of this chapter has not tended to
effectuate its declared purposes, the commission may recommend to the
secretary that the operation of this chapter be suspended. However,
any suspension shall not become effective until the expiration of the
current marketing year.
(b) The secretary shall, upon receipt of the recommendation, or
may, after a public hearing to review a petition filed with the
secretary requesting a suspension signed by not less than 20 percent
of the handlers by number who handled not less than 20 percent of the
volume in the immediately preceding marketing year, hold a
referendum among the handlers to determine if the operations of the
commission shall be suspended. However, the secretary shall not hold
a referendum as a result of the petition unless the petitioner shows,
by a preponderance of evidence, that the operation of this chapter
has not tended to effectuate its declared purposes.
(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 as may be 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 this chapter if
the secretary finds that at least 40 percent of the total number of
handlers from the list established by the secretary have participated
in the referendum and either one of the following has occurred:
(1) Sixty-five percent or more of the handlers who voted in the
referendum voted in favor of suspension, and the handlers so voting
handled a majority of the total quantity of dates handled in the
preceding marketing year by all of the handlers who voted in the
referendum.
(2) A majority of the handlers who voted in the referendum voted
in favor of suspension, and the handlers so voting handled 65 percent
or more of the total quantity of dates handled in the preceding
marketing year by all of the handlers who voted in the referendum.
(d) If a referendum is conducted as the result of a petition
pursuant to subdivision (b), the costs to conduct the referendum
shall be paid by the petitioners.