California Beef Commission.

Existing law, the California Beef Council Law, establishes the California Beef Council, comprised of 20 members and 20 alternate members appointed by the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to perform various advisory and other duties relating to the California beef industry. The California Beef Council Law establishes a $1 fee per head on each sale of cattle and calves to administer the California Beef Council Law, and requires the fee to be collected from the seller by the operator of the stockyard, live auction market, slaughterhouse, or feedlot, or from the seller along with brand inspection fees by the Bureau of Livestock Identification. Existing law also provides that the fee from the sale of calves exempt from brand inspection that is not collected in the manner specified above is required to be collected by the purchaser, for payment to the secretary. This bill would instead require the fee from the sale of cattle or calves exempt from a brand inspection that is not collected from the seller in the manner specified above to be charged and collected from the seller in a manner determined by the Department of Food and Agriculture. This bill would also establish the California Beef Commission Law (the law) to augment and support the work of the California Beef Council. The bill would create the California Beef Commission, which would be comprised of 11 members and 11 alternate members appointed by the secretary who may be members of the California Beef Council. The bill would provide for reimbursement of traveling and other expenses incurred by commission members in the performance of their duties, unless the expenses are incurred for discharging similar duties reimbursed by the California Beef Council. The bill would set forth the powers and duties of the commission, including administering any governmental program related to the California cattle, beef, and beef products industry, except for administering funds and performing acts under the jurisdiction of the California Beef Council. The bill would exempt the commission or any person acting pursuant to the law's provisions from various consumer protection laws, including the Cartwright Act and the Unfair Practices Act. The bill would provide for an assessment of $1 per head of cattle to be paid on each sale of cattle and calves to carry out the law's provisions. The bill would authorize the commission to expend those funds for purposes of implementing the bill, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would require the secretary to conduct an initial referendum of producers to approve a mandatory fee to implement the law's provisions and would make operation of the law's provisions contingent upon approval of producers by referendum, except as specified. The bill would require reapproval of the law's provisions by a referendum of producers every 5 years and would provide for suspension of the law if a majority of producers do not vote in favor of continuing the law's operation. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.