(1) Upon receipt of a petition containing the signatures of five beer producers from a statewide Washington state craft brewing trade association or other affected producers to implement this chapter and to determine producer participation in the commission and assessment under this chapter, the director shall:

     (a) Conduct a referendum of beer producers. The requirements of assent or approval of the referendum are met if:

     (i) At least fifty-one percent by numbers of affected producers participating in the referendum vote affirmatively; and

     (ii) Thirty percent of the affected producers and thirty percent of the production have been represented in the referendum to determine assent or approval of participation and assessment. The referendum shall be conducted within sixty days of receipt of the petition; and

     (b) Establish a list of beer producers from information provided by the petitioners, by obtaining information on beer producers from applicable producer organizations or associations or other sources identified as maintaining the information. In establishing a current list of beer producers and their individual production, the director shall use the beer producer's name, mailing address, and production by the producer in the preceding fiscal year. Information on each producer shall be mailed to each beer producer on record with the director for verification. All corrections shall be filed with the director within twenty days from the date of mailing. The list of affected producers shall be kept in a file by the director. The list shall be certified as a true representation of the referendum mailing list. Inadvertent failure to notify an affected producer does not invalidate a proceeding conducted under this chapter. The director shall provide the commission the list of affected producers after assent in a referendum as provided in this section.

     (2) If the director determines that the requisite assent has been given in the referendum conducted under subsection (1) of this section, the director shall:

     (a) Within sixty days after assent of the referendum held, appoint the members of the commission; and

     (b) Direct the commission to put into force the assessment as provided for in RCW 15.89.110.

     (3) If the director determines that the requisite assent has not been given in the referendum conducted under subsection (1) of this section, the director shall take no further action to implement or enforce this chapter.

     (4) Upon completion of the referendum conducted under subsection (1) of this section, the department shall tally the results of the vote and provide the results to affected producers. If an affected producer disputes the results of a vote, that producer within sixty days from the announced results, shall provide in writing a statement of why the vote is disputed and request a recount. Once the vote is tallied and distributed, all disputes are resolved, and all matters in a vote are finalized, the individual ballots may be destroyed.

     (5) Before conducting the referendum provided for in subsection (1) of this section, the director may require the petitioners to deposit with him or her an amount of money as the director deems necessary to defray the expenses of conducting the referendum. The director shall provide the petitioners an estimate of expenses that may be incurred to conduct a referendum before any service takes place. Petitioners shall deposit funds with the director to pay for expenses incurred by the department. The commission shall reimburse petitioners the amount paid to the department when funds become available. However, if for any reason the referendum process is discontinued, the petitioners shall reimburse the department for expenses incurred by the department up until the time the process is discontinued.

     (6) The director is not required to hold a referendum under subsection (1) of this section more than once in any twelve-month period.

[2006 c 330 § 5.]