BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1660
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 9, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1660 (Campos) - As Amended: April 23, 2012
Policy Committee: Labor and
Employment Vote: 7-0
Arts and Entertainment 9-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill prohibits a person from representing or providing
specified services to any artist who is a minor under 18 years
of age, without first submitting an application to the Labor
Commissioner (LC) for a Child Performer Services (CPS) Permit
and receiving that permit. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the LC to establish a filing fee to be paid by the
applicant at the time the application is filed. Further
requires the fee to be an amount sufficient to reimburse the
LC for the costs of the CPS Permit, but not to exceed $50, and
requires this fee to be in addition to the fee imposed for
fingerprinting/background check, as specified.
2)Requires the LC to issue a CPS Permit to the applicant after
it has received the filing fee and information provided by the
Department of Justice (DOJ) that the applicant is not required
to register as a sex offender pursuant to current law.
Further requires a person who receives a CPS Permit to renew
it on a biennial basis, including paying a new filing fee, as
specified.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Requires a filing fee of $50 to be paid to the LC (the head of
the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE)
within the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR)) at the
time the permit application is filed. If DLSE receives
between 5,000 and 20,000 initial applications in the first
year, and ongoing applications of less than 1,000 annually,
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this would result in fee revenue of $250,000 and $1 million in
the first year, and ongoing fee revenue of less than $50,000
annually thereafter.
2)DLSE will likely need additional full-time clerical staff to
process applications in the first year. This would result in
a one-time cost of $250,000, including postage and storage.
DLSE will likely incur minor and absorbable on-going costs.
3)This bill creates the CPS Permit Fund and requires the LC to
deposit all filing fees into this fund. This measure also
specifies moneys in this fund to be used to pay for the costs
of the administration of this program and to repay any loan
from the Labor Enforcement and Compliance Fund.
4)Authorizes the Department of Justice (DOJ) to charge DIR a fee
to cover the cost of processing fingerprinting and background
information pursuant to this bill. This would result in DOJ
fee revenue likely between $25,000 and $100,000 in the first
year, and less than $5,000 annually thereafter (assuming a $5
fee). According to DOJ, it would also incur special fund
personnel costs, of approximately $150,000, to process these
requests.
5)Establishes a misdemeanor for violations. Local law
enforcement costs, likely to be minor, are not
state-reimbursable.
6)Establishes a private right of action for persons injured by a
violation and authorizes treble damages, punitive damages, and
the award of attorney's fees, which could result in additional
state trial court costs.
SUMMARY
1)Specifies the provisions of this bill do not apply to the
following:
a) A person licensed as a talent agent or operating under a
talent agent license.
b) A person whose contact with minor children is restricted
to locations, where, either by law or regulation, the minor
must be accompanied at all times by a parent/guardian, as
specified.
c) A person who has only incidental/occasional contact with
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minor children, unless the person works directly with minor
children, has supervision or disciplinary power over minor
children, or receives a fee.
2)Authorizes the LC, on a one-time basis, to borrow up to
$250,000 from the Labor Enforcement and Compliance Fund (LECF)
to pay for the on-time start-up costs for this program.
Requires this loan to be repaid to the LECF as soon as
sufficient funds collected for this program exist.
3)Establishes a misdemeanor penalty for a person who willfully
violates any provisions of this measure and specifies each
violation is punishable by a fine not exceeding $10,000, by
imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or
by both fine and imprisonment.
4)Authorizes a person who is injured by any violation of this
program to bring an action to recover damages or to restrain
and enjoin a violation, or both, as specified.
COMMENTS
1)Background . Existing law requires a person or corporation
that acts as a talent agency to pay a filing fee and obtain a
license from DIR to represent artists who are minors. Statute
also requires applicants to provide a business history,
financial information, and information generated from
conducting fingerprinting. Talent agencies are also required
to post a bond with the LC before a license can be issued.
Current law also prohibits a sex offender registrant whose sex
crime was against a victim under age 16 from working as an
employee or volunteer with minors, if the registrant would be
working with minors directly and in an unaccompanied setting
on more than an incidental or occasional basis, or would have
supervisory or disciplinary power over children. If the
registrant's crime was not against a victim under age 16, the
registrant must disclose his or her status as a registrant to
the employer or volunteer organization. Violations of these
provisions constitute a misdemeanor offense.
2)Purpose . In December 2011, there were three separate reports
of alleged child sexual abuse in the entertainment industry.
According to the author, "ÝThis bill] is needed because
Hollywood is a unique environment, one where it is a common
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practice for children to be in the company of adults who are
not their parents, have photos taken by strangers in order to
obtain work, and befriend adults who can aid in their
professional growth. Child predators can easily work as
professional photographers, managers or talent agents and use
their job to lure unassuming children and parents to trust
them."
The author further states, "Existing law only applies to
licensed talent agents, where it requires that applicants for
the license provide their business history and financial
information along with fingerprints and affidavits from
personal references. This bill would extend similar
requirements to others who also work with children in
entertainment."
3)Will The Labor Enforcement and Compliance Fund (LECF) exist
after the 2013 fiscal year (FY) ? As part of the 2009 Budget
Act, the GF costs of the Labor Standards Enforcement and the
Occupational Safety and Health Programs ($15.2 million and
$24.8 million, respectively) were shifted to fees; trailer
bill language was adopted (Chapter 12, Statutes of 2009-10
Fourth Extraordinary Session) establishing the LECF and an
assessment structure based on the size of the employer. The
surcharge levied would not exceed $37 million. The statutory
authorization for the LECF sunsets on June 30, 2013.
At present, the Administration does not have a proposal to
reauthorize the LECF, yet this bill and several 2012-13 Budget
proposals would utilize the LECF beyond the budget year.
Specifically, this bill authorizes DIR to borrow up to
$250,000 from this fund for start-up costs related to the CPS
Permit program and requires this loan to be repaid once fees
are collected. It is unlikely, however, that the full amount
of the loan would be paid back prior to the sunset of the
LECF.
According the Assembly Budget Committee, the Administration
indicates it is currently considering an internal request from
DIR to pursue LECF reauthorization.
4)Previous legislation . AB 2072 (Montanez), similar to this
bill, was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee in
August 2006.
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Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081