BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 533|
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 533
Author: Ian Calderon (D)
Amended: 6/3/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/11/13
AYES: Evans, Walters, Anderson, Corbett, Jackson, Leno, Monning
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 70-0, 5/16/13 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT : Artistic employment contracts: minors
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill exempts an employer of a minor under a
contract for services as an extra, background performer, or in a
similar capacity from the requirement that the employer set
aside 15% of the minor's gross earnings in trust for the benefit
of the minor.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Provides protections for minors who contract to render
artistic or creative services.
2. Requires the employer of a minor, who provides artistic,
creative, or sports services, to set aside 15% of the minor's
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gross earnings for placement into a Coogan Trust Account that
must be established by the minor's parent or legal guardian,
who acts as the trustee of the trust account.
3. Defines a Coogan Trust Account to mean a trust account
established for the purpose of preserving for the benefit of
a minor the portion of the minor's gross earnings.
4. Provides that if the parent or legal guardian fails to
establish a Coogan Trust Account, the employer must transmit
the required portion of gross earnings to The Actors Fund
America, which is required to take specified steps to provide
notice of the unclaimed funds to the parent or legal
guardian.
This bill:
1. Exempts from the Coogan Trust Account requirements minors who
contract to provide services as an extra, background
performer, or in another similar capacity.
2. Makes various technical corrections.
Background
Under existing law, children entering into contracts to provide
professional entertainment services are required to obtain a
permit from the Labor Commissioner. Work permits issued by the
Labor Commissioner related to contracted services are only valid
for ten days, unless the permit is attached to a trustee's
statement evidencing the establishment of a Coogan Trust
Account. (Labor Code Section 1308.9)
Coogan Trust Accounts were established under the Coogan Law in
1938 in response to child star Jackie Coogan's plight. Even
though he earned millions as a child, Coogan was surprised to
find out when he reached adulthood that he was flat broke,
because his mother and stepfather spent all of his money -
legally. Community property laws in California made all
earnings of individual members of a family the property of the
family, and a child had no control over his or her earnings.
Thus, the Coogan Law was passed in order to preserve a portion
(15%) of the minor's earnings for the minor's use when he/she
reaches the age of majority. The Coogan Law was amended to
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provide enhanced protections for a minor's earnings in SB 1162
(Burton, Chapter 940, Statutes of 1999); and SB 210 (Burton,
Chapter 667, Statutes of 2003).
Prior Legislation
AB 1401 (Assembly Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism, and
Internet Media Committee, Chapter 557, Statutes of 2011)
established an online temporary work permit process administered
by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement in order to
assist parents establishing a Coogan Trust Account for the
benefit of the minor performer.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/12/13)
BizParentz Foundation
Children in Film, Inc.
Entertainment Partners
The Actors Fund of America
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "Existing law
requires that all child actors must have 15 [percent] of their
earnings set aside in a Coogan Trust Account, which may not be
accessed by anyone including the child actor until after they
become adults. For child actors who earn large sums as
principal performers, the Coogan law provides needed and
beneficial protection. However, for kids who only work once or
twice a year as an extra or background performer, this
requirement is an unnecessary and inefficient waste, and simply
denies kids some summer fun money. This bill corrects this
situation and removes the requirement that the parents of
background kids have to create Accounts."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 70-0, 5/16/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Garcia,
Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Hagman, Hall, Harkey,
Roger Hernández, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue,
Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Mitchell, Mullin,
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Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea,
V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner,
Ting, Torres, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk,
Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Allen, Buchanan, Eggman, Beth Gaines, Grove,
Holden, Melendez, Morrell, Stone, Vacancy
AL:d 6/12/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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