Existing law governs the apportionment of state funds to fairs within the network of California fairs, which includes, in general, the California Exposition and State Fair, district agricultural association fairs, county fairs, and citrus fruit fairs. Existing law authorizes consideration of the classification of a fair seeking an apportionment of state funds when determining compensation for the fair’s manager. Existing law requires the Department of Food and Agriculture to annually review and maintain a separate and accurate job description for each fair manager, solicit information from each fair board of directors that will accurately describe the fair manager’s performance and responsibilities in regard to merit salary increases for its fair manager, and report its findings to fair directors and fair managers.

This bill would revise and recast the determination of the compensation for fair managers by, among other things, doing all of the following: (1) renaming those fair managers as secretary-managers of district agricultural associations; (2) transferring the duty to fix the compensation for a secretary-manager, in an amount that is reasonably appropriate, to the Secretary of Food and Agriculture; (3) requiring the secretary to set a single salary range for the compensation of a secretary-manager and, in determining the salary range, on or before January 1, 2027, and every 3 years thereafter, to conduct a salary survey of other state, regional, and local positions in similar industries and other relevant labor pools if the secretary receives funds from the fair industry for that purpose; (4) until the first survey, requiring the compensation for a secretary-manager to remain within certain existing ranges, regardless of fair classification; and (5) after the first survey, prohibiting the maximum salary limit of the salary range for a secretary-manager from exceeding the highest salary for a position comparable to a secretary-manager, as determined by the most recent survey, except for specifically required cost-of-living increases and authorized merit increases and increases for secretary-managers managing multiple districts.