1. The secretary shall call and the department shall conduct a referendum upon the department’s receipt of a petition which is signed by at least twenty producers requesting a referendum to determine whether to establish an Iowa egg council and to impose an assessment as provided in section 184.3. The referendum shall be conducted within sixty days following receipt of the petition. The petitioners shall guarantee payment of the cost of the referendum by providing evidence of financial security as required by the department.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 184.2

  • Assessment: means an excise tax on the sale of eggs as provided in this chapter. See Iowa Code 184.1
  • Council: means the Iowa egg council. See Iowa Code 184.1
  • Department: means the department of environmental quality in a reference to a time before July 1, 1983, the department of water, air and waste management in a reference to a time on or after July 1, 1983, and through June 30, 1986, and the department of natural resources on or after July 1, 1986, and includes any officer or agency within that department. See Iowa Code 172D.1
  • Eligible voter: means a producer who is qualified to vote in a referendum conducted under this chapter according to the requirements of section 184. See Iowa Code 184.1
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Payment: means the actual payment or tender of payment by a grain dealer to a seller of the agreed purchase price, or in the case of disputes as to sales of grain, the undisputed portion of the purchase price without reduction for any separate claim of the grain dealer against the seller. See Iowa Code 203.8
  • Producer: means any person who owns, or contracts for the care of, thirty thousand or more layer-type chickens raised in this state. See Iowa Code 184.1
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. The department shall give notice of the referendum on the question whether to establish a council and to impose an assessment by publishing the notice for a period of not less than five days in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the state. The notice shall state the voting places, period of time for voting, and other information deemed necessary by the department. A referendum shall not be commenced until five days after the last date of publication.
 3. a. Each producer who signs a statement certifying that the producer is a bona fide producer shall be an eligible voter under this section. An eligible voter is entitled to cast one vote in each referendum conducted under this section.

 b. At the close of the referendum, the secretary shall count and tabulate the ballots cast.

 (1) If a majority of eligible voters approve establishing an Iowa egg council and imposing an assessment, a council shall be established, and an assessment shall be imposed commencing not more than sixty days following the referendum as determined by the council and shall continue until eligible voters voting in a referendum held pursuant to section 184.5 vote to abolish the council and terminate the imposition of the assessment.
 (2) If a majority of the voters do not approve establishing the council and imposing the assessment, the council shall not be established and an assessment shall not be imposed until another referendum is held under this chapter and a majority of the eligible voters approve establishing a council and imposing the assessment. If a referendum should fail, another referendum shall not be held within one hundred eighty days.
 4. Immediately after passage of the question at the referendum, the secretary shall appoint seven members to the council in accordance with section 184.6 based on nominations made by the Iowa poultry association. The association shall nominate and the secretary shall appoint two members representing large producers, two members representing medium producers, and three members representing small producers. The department, in consultation with the association, shall determine initial classifications for small, medium, and large producers. The secretary shall complete the appointments within thirty days following passage of the question at the referendum.