BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1085
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 4, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 1085 (Runner) - As Amended: June 28, 2010
Policy Committee: AgricultureVote:8
- 0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill allows the Antelope Valley Fair (otherwise known as
the 50th District Agricultural Association) to enter into a
joint powers agreement for the purpose of operating, maintaining
and improving the Antelope Valley fairgrounds. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Allows the Antelope Valley Fair to enter into a JPA to operate
and maintain the 50th DAA.
2)Authorizes the joint powers authority (JPA) to elect to be a
member of the network of California fairs.
3)Requires the consent of the Secretary of the California
Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) in order to enter
into the joint powers agreement.
4)Provides that civil service employees of the 50th DAA have the
option to remain in state employment under contract to the JPA
or accept a position as an employee of the JPA.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Shifting the Antelope Valley Fair from the state to a JPA
should not result in any additional costs for the state.
2)Streamlining the operation of the fair through a JPA could
result in additional revenue for the operation of the fair.
COMMENTS
SB 1085
Page 2
1)Rationale . This bill would transfer the operation of the
Antelope Valley Fair to a joint powers authority, thus
removing the state from involvement in the fair. The 50th DAA
believes that forming a JPA with closer ties to local
government will enable the fair to operate more efficiently
and with greater flexibility. The supporters note that this
new entity will allow the fair to operate free of the
constraints created by state bureaucracy.
2)The Antelope Valley Fair . The Antelope Valley Fair Association
was incorporated on September 12, 1938, and operated locally
for three years. On September 13, 1941, the Antelope Valley
Fair became the 50th DAA with the donation of the land to the
state. The 50th DAA is located in the northern part of Los
Angeles County in the City of Lancaster. Working with the
City of Lancaster, the 50th DAA was relocated to a new site in
2003. In the current fiscal year, the 50th DAA generated $4.7
million in revenue and received approximately $25,000 from the
Fairs and Exposition Fund.
3)Joint Powers Agreement . A joint powers agreement is a formal,
legal agreement between two or more public agencies that share
a common power and want to jointly implement programs, build
facilities, or deliver services. With a joint powers
agreement, a member agency agrees to be responsible for
delivering a service on behalf of the other member agencies.
For example, the City of San Jose signed a joint powers
agreement with Santa Clara County to jointly administer
redevelopment funds.
Agencies that can exercise joint powers include federal
agencies, state departments, counties, cities, special
districts, school districts and redevelopment agencies. While
this legislation authorizes the Antelope Valley Fair to enter
into a joint powers agreement, it does not specify who the
other member agencies will be.
Currently, there are no fairs operating as JPAs in the state
of California. As noted below, the fairs are made up of only
District Agricultural Associations (which is what the 50th DAA
is), county fairs, and nonprofits. The JPA model would be
unique to the Antelope Valley Fair. However the JPA could
contract with a nonprofit to manage the operation the fair,
which would be similar to the way other fairs are run in the
state.
SB 1085
Page 3
4)California's Network of Fairs . The network of California fairs
includes 80 fair organizations divided into four categories:
a) 54 DAA's - a state government entity (2 DAA's were
deactivated during fiscal year 1997-98, leaving 52 active
DAA's).
b) 23 county fairs - County government or not-for-profit
organizations.
c) 2 citrus fruit fairs - not-for-profit organizations.
d) The California Exposition and State Fair (Cal Expo) - a
state agency.
SB 16 X2 (Ashburn; Chapter 12, Statutes of 2009-10 Second
Extraordinary Session) provides among other things, that
beginning on July 1, 2009, and annually thereafter, $32
million shall be appropriated from the state's General Fund
and paid into the Fair and Exposition Fund for the financial
support of the network of California fairs. This funding is
used to support the 80 fairs in the network.
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081