II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 457 

To allow modified bloc voting by cooperative associations of milk producers 

in connection with a referendum on Federal milk marketing order reform. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 2, 2011 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To allow modified bloc voting by cooperative associations 

of milk producers in connection with a referendum on 

Federal milk marketing order reform. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Democracy for Dairy 

5 Producers Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MODIFIED BLOC VOTING. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding paragraph (12) 

8 of section 8c of the Agricultural Adjustment Act (7 U.S.C. 

9 608c), reenacted with amendments by the Agricultural 

10 Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, in the case of the refVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:53 Mar 03, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S457.IS S457

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•S 457 IS

1 erendum conducted as part of the consolidation of Federal 

2 milk marketing orders and related reforms under section 

3 143 of the Agricultural Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 

4 7253), a cooperative association of milk producers may 

5 not elect to hold a vote on behalf of its members as author6 ized by that paragraph, unless the cooperative association 

7 provides to each producer, on behalf of which the coopera8 tive association is expressing approval or disapproval, at 

9 the time a producer joins the cooperative association and 

10 annually thereafter, written notice that contains— 

11 (1) information regarding the procedures by 

12 which a producer may cast an individual ballot; 

13 (2) contact information for the milk marketing 

14 order information clearinghouse described in sub15 section (b) and procedures to be added to a notifica16 tion list described in subsection (c); and 

17 (3) information about a point of contact within 

18 the cooperative association to inquire regarding the 

19 manner in which the cooperative association intends 

20 to vote on behalf of the membership. 

21 (b) INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE.—Each milk 

22 marketing order shall establish a information clearing23 house on referendums on Federal milk marketing order 

24 reform that includes— 


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1 (1) information on procedures by which a pro2 ducer may cast an individual ballot; 

3 (2) due dates for each specific referendum; 

4 (3) the text of each referendum question under 

5 consideration; and 

6 (4) a description in plain language of the ques7 tion and relevant background information. 

8 (c) NOTIFICATION LIST FOR UPCOMING REF9 ERENDUM.—Each Federal milk marketing order shall— 

10 (1) make available the information described in 

11 subsection (b) through a Web site; and 

12 (2) distribute to each producer an alert on each 

13 upcoming referendum through a fax list, email dis14 tribution list, or United States mail list, as elected 

15 by each producer individually. 

16 (d) TABULATION OF BALLOTS.—At the time at which 

17 ballots from a vote under subsection (a) are tabulated by 

18 the Secretary, the Secretary shall adjust the vote of a co19 operative association to reflect individual votes submitted 

20 by producers that are members of, stockholders in, or 

21 under contract with, the cooperative association. 

Æ 


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