(a) Upon a finding by a two-thirds 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 then current marketing season.

(b) Upon the vote of the members of the commission specified in subdivision (a), 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 he or she finds any 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 rice handled in the preceding marketing season by all of the handlers voting 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 rice handled in the preceding marketing season by all of the handlers voting in the referendum.

(3) Sixty-five percent or more of the producers who voted in the referendum voted in favor of suspension, and the producers so voting produced a majority of the total quantity of rice produced in the preceding marketing season by all of the producers voting in the referendum.

(4) A majority of the producers who voted in the referendum voted in favor of suspension, and the producers so voting produced 65 percent or more of the total quantity of rice produced in the preceding marketing season by all of the producers voting in the referendum.

(Added by Stats. 1998, Ch. 567, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1999.)