BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1085|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1085
Author: Runner (R), et al
Amended: 6/28/10
Vote: 21
SENATE FOOD AND AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE : 4-0, 4/20/10
AYES: Florez, Hancock, Hollingsworth, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Maldonado
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 10-0, 05/27/10
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Corbett, Denham, Leno, Price,
Walters, Wolk, Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cox
SENATE FLOOR : 35-0, 6/2/10 (Consent)
AYES: Aanestad, Alquist, Ashburn, Calderon, Cedillo,
Cogdill, Corbett, Correa, Cox, Denham, DeSaulnier,
Ducheny, Dutton, Florez, Hancock, Hollingsworth, Huff,
Kehoe, Leno, Liu, Lowenthal, Negrete McLeod, Padilla,
Pavley, Price, Romero, Runner, Simitian, Steinberg,
Strickland, Walters, Wolk, Wright, Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Harman, Oropeza, Wiggins, Vacancy,
Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 8/12/10 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : 50th District Agricultural Association: Joint
Powers
Agreement
CONTINUED
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SOURCE : 50th District Agricultural Association
DIGEST : This bill allows the 50th District Agricultural
Association (DAA), with the consent of the Secretary of
California Department of Food and Agriculture, to enter
into a joint powers agreement with a Joint Powers Authority
with the purpose of operating, maintaining and improving
the 50th DAA.
Assembly Amendments recast the provisions from a 99-year
lease to a nonprofit organization to form a Joint Powers
Authority, as specified.
ANALYSIS : Under existing law, the California Department
of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), Division of Fairs and
Expositions (DFE) is responsible for overseeing the 54
District Agriculture Associations (DAA) throughout the
state that make up the California network of fairs. Each
DAA operates with a degree of autonomy, with a board of
directors appointed by the governor, and in accordance with
state law governing the operation of state agencies. DAAs
contribute a great deal to the state of California. They
offer an opportunity for the local community to highlight
its achievements, and in many cases, they recognize the
agriculture of the local area.
The Antelope Valley Fair (AVF) 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 only received
approximately $25,000 from the Fairs and Exposition Fund.
The Governor's 2004 California Performance Review proposed
to help refocus government on essential functions and
redirect functions to cooperative public-private ventures.
As part of this review, it was suggested that all 54 DAAs
be transformed into public benefit corporations.
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This bill:
1.Allows the 50th DAA to enter into a JPA to operate,
maintain and improve the 50th DAA.
2.Allows the JPA to accept donation of, acquire, own, sell
or lease, real property and offer bonds for the purpose
of improving the facilities at the 50th DAA.
3.Allows the JPA to enter into contracts and hire
employees.
4.Allows the JPA to manage or enter into management
contracts for the operation of the50th DAA facilities.
5.Requires any planning, designing, and construction of
improvements be in accordance with the powers of the JPA.
6.Provides that every civil service employee of the 50th
DAA have an option to remain in state employment under
contract to the JPA or accept a position as an employee
of the JPA.
7.Requires that any entity the JPA contracts with, to
manage the 50th DAA, allows every civil service employee
of the 50th DAA to have an option to remain in state
employment under contract to the JPA or accept a position
as an employee of the JPA. Allows the JPA to fill a
vacant civil service position with a non-civil service
employee.
8.Specifies that the state is not liable for any debts,
liabilities, settlements, liens, or other obligations
incurred or imposed upon the JPA.
9.Specifies that the JPA may be referred to as part of the
network of California fairs and may elect to be a member
of the network of California fairs, with the mutual
consent of CDFA and the JPA.
Prior Legislation
SB 1436 (Thompson), Chapter 259, Statutes of 1998, allows
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the Director of DGS, with the consent of the Secretary of
State and Consumer Services Agency, to lease the Napa
Valley Expo in Napa County for up to 99 years to a
nonprofit organization to operate an annual fair in lieu of
the fair held by the 25th District Agricultural
Association.
SB 281 (Maldonado), Chapter 346, Statutes of 2007, requires
CDFA to develop, upon approval of DGS, criteria to be used
for the purchase of goods and the disposal of property by a
district agricultural association and State Fair at Cal
Expo.
In 2006, SB 1041 (Denham) would have transferred, from DGS
to CDFA, the responsibility to annually prepare a program
for DAAs for delegating purchasing authority to the DAAs.
(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee
analysis, shifting the Antelope Valley Fair from the state
to a JPA should not result in any additional costs for the
state, and indicates that streamlining the operation of the
fair through a JPA could result in additional revenue for
the operation of the fair.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/11/10)
50th District Agricultural Association (source)
Antelope Valley Chamber of Commerce
California Horse Council
H.W. Hunter, Inc.
Michael Antonovich, Los Angeles County Supervisor
Rex Parris, Mayor, City of Lancaster
Stone Roofing Company
The Showdown
Western Fairs Association
Western Pacific Roofing Corporation
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/11/10)
Department of Finance
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ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Supporters state this bill is
needed to create greater efficiencies and transfer control
of the 50th DAA to a JPA closely aligned with local
government. This new entity will allow the AV fair to
operate free of the constraints created by state
bureaucracy. The 50th DAA believes that forming a JPA with
closer ties to local government will enable the AVF to
operate more efficiently and with greater flexibility.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Department of Finance is
"opposed to this bill because it does not specify what
other entity(ies) would join the JPA, or the nature of the
related joint powers agreement. Further, this bill would
allow the JPA to bypass certain state processes. For
example, the JPA would not be subject to the DAA policy
manual and would not require legislative action to amend a
human resources policy or the construction of the fair.
This bill could handicap the state's ability to manage (or
potentially sell) AVF-related resources, especially since
we do not know what form the agreement will take."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block,
Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero,
Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto,
Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Eng, Evans, Feuer,
Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines,
Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey,
Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries,
Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma,
Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello,
Nielsen, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas,
Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra
Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran,
Villines, Yamada, John A. Perez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Norby, Vacancy
TSM:nl 8/16/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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