BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1186|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1186
Author: Bonilla (D), et al.
Amended: 9/4/13 in Senate
Vote: 27 - Urgency
SENATE BUSINESS, PROF. & ECON. DEVEL. COMM. : 10-0, 8/19/13
AYES: Lieu, Emmerson, Block, Corbett, Galgiani, Hernandez,
Hill, Padilla, Wyland, Yee
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not relevant
SUBJECT : California State Athletic Commission
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill clarifies that the California State
Athletic Commission (CSAC) is authorized to regulate all forms
of full contact martial arts contests involving participants 18
years of age or younger, including all forms and combinations of
forms of full contact martial arts contests deemed by CSAC to be
similar, and that an amateur contest includes a contest where
full contact is used, even if unintentionally. Also requires
CSAC to establish an advisory pankration subcommittee.
Senate Floor Amendments of 9/4/13 authorize CSAC to delegate
oversight of amateur sports to one or more entities; include a
deadline of July 1, 2014, by which the pankration subcommittee,
as established by this bill, must make recommendations to CSAC;
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and make technical and clarifying changes.
ANALYSIS : Existing federal law, the Muhammad Ali Boxing
Reform Act (Federal Boxing Act) prohibits events from taking
place in a state without a regulatory commission unless the
fight is regulated by either another state's commission or on
sovereign tribal land.
Existing state law:
1. The Boxing Act, or State Athletic Commission Act (State Act),
provides for the licensing and regulation of boxers,
kickboxers, martial arts athletes and events held in
California by CSAC within the Department of Consumer Affairs
(DCA) and makes CSAC inoperative and repealed on January 1,
2014.
2. Provides that the terms "contest" and "match" are synonymous,
may be used interchangeably, include boxing, kickboxing, and
martial arts exhibitions, and mean a fight, prizefight,
boxing contest, pugilistic contest, kickboxing contest,
martial arts contest, or sparring match, between two or more
persons, where full or partial contact is used or intended
that may result or is intended to result in physical harm to
the opponent. Provides that in any exhibition or sparring
match, the opponents are not required to use their best
efforts.
3. Defines the following terms:
A. "Martial arts" means any form of karate, kung fu, tae
kwon-do, kickboxing or any combination of full contact
martial arts, including mixed martial arts (MMA), or
self-defense conducted on a full contact basis where a
weapon is not used.
B. "Kickboxing" means any form of boxing in which blows
are delivered with the hand and any part of the leg below
the hip, including the foot.
C. "Full contact" means the use of full unrestrainted
physical force in a martial arts contest.
D. "Light contact" means the use of controlled martial
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arts techniques whereby contact to the body is permitted
in a restrained manner, no contact to the face is
permitted, and no contact is permitted which may result or
is intended to result in physical harm to the opponent.
E. "Noncontact" means that no contact occurs between either
contestant.
4. Provides that no person under the age of 18 years shall
participate as a contestant in any contest or match or
exhibition, except that any person 16 years or over may be
licensed as an amateur and may participate in an amateur
contest or match.
This bill:
1. Removes "partial contact" from the definition of a "contest"
or "match."
2. Clarifies that "full contact" means the use of physical force
in a martial arts contest that may result, or is intended to
result, in physical harm to the opponent, including any
contact that does not meet the definition of light contact or
noncontact.
3. Removes "permitted body contact in a restrained manner" from
the definition of "light contact."
4. Clarifies that an amateur contest or match includes a contest
or match where full contact is used, even if unintentionally.
5. Specifies that an amateur contest or match does not include
light contact karate, tae kwon-do, judo, or any other light
contact martial arts as approved by CSAC and recognized by
the International Olympic Committee as an Olympic sport.
6. Clarifies that CSAC shall have jurisdiction over all forms
and combination of forms of full contact martial arts
contests involving participants 18 years of age or younger.
7. Requires CSAC to establish an advisory pankration
subcommittee to investigate the rules and conduct of contests
involving or claiming to involve pankration by persons under
18 years of age, or any style deemed by the subcommittee to
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be sufficiently similar. Requires the subcommittee, by July
1, 2014, to make recommendations to CSAC regarding any
legislative changes to be enacted that may be necessary to
improve CSAC's regulation and oversight of contests in order
to adequately protect participants. Provides that the
pankration subcommittee shall consist of three members of
CSAC who meet and examine the following, including, but not
limited to:
A. The legality and safety of contests.
B. Whether or not legislation should be enacted to
impose age-based requirements or restrictions, which may
include a prohibition on participants engaging in
contests.
C. Appropriate safety precautions for persons under 18
years of age engaging in contests.
8. Prohibits a person under 18 years of age from participating
as a contestant in any professional contest or match or
exhibition; and authorizes any person, irrespective of age,
to participate as a contestant in an amateur contest, match,
or exhibition with CSAC approval subject to licensure
authorization.
9. Authorizes CSAC to delegate its authority for amateur sports
to one or more entities.
Background
CSAC . CSAC provides direction, management, control of and
jurisdiction over professional and amateur boxing, professional
and amateur kickboxing, all forms and combinations of full
contact martial arts contests, including MMA and matches or
exhibitions conducted, held or given in California. SB 1549
(Figueroa, Chapter 691, Statutes of 2004) gave CSAC jurisdiction
over MMA, which at the time was a relatively new sport that was
quickly growing in popularity. CSAC oversees licensing,
prohibited substance testing, and event regulation.
Functionally, CSAC has five primary responsibilities:
licensing, protection of the boxer and fighter, enforcement,
regulating events and administering the Professional Boxer's
Pension Fund.
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CSAC is responsible for implementation and enforcement of the
Federal Boxing Act and the State Act. CSAC establishes
requirements for licensure, issues and renews licenses, approves
and regulates events, assigns ringside officials, investigates
complaints received, and enforces applicable laws by issuing
fines and suspending or revoking licenses. In 2012, CSAC
supervised close to 200 events; to date, CSAC has supervised
over 100 events. CSAC licenses a number of individuals related
to the participation in, oversight for, and management of events
in California.
Delegation of authority for amateur sports in California .
Existing law allows CSAC to delegate its authority to oversee
amateur sports to a qualified nonprofit organization if CSAC
determines that the nonprofit "meets or exceeds the safety and
fairness standards of the Commission." Under existing law,
CSAC's delegated authority for amateur regulation would also
have oversight of the same sports as CSAC.
California is unique in requiring that a delegated authority
have nonprofit status. According to information provided by the
National Conference of State Legislatures, many other states
similarly delegate regulatory authority for amateur sports but
do not always require the organization to have nonprofit status.
CSAC has delegated its regulatory oversight responsibilities of
amateur boxing and MMA to USA Boxing, Inc. and to California
Amateur Mixed Martial Arts Organization (CAMO).
There have been several issues with USA Boxing that raise some
concern regarding the oversight of amateur boxing. In 2009,
CSAC suspended USA Boxing's authorization to regulate amateur
boxing for three weeks in response to media reports of
improprieties including underage alcohol consumption and
gambling at USA Boxing sanctioned events and concern for the
health and safety of amateur athletes. That delegation was
reinstated after CSAC staff negotiated stricter requirements
regarding safety, background checks, uniformity, reporting and
record keeping, and included promises for USA Boxing to be more
responsive to CSAC. CSAC voted to place USA Boxing on probation
until June 2010. Earlier this year, CSAC informed USA Boxing
that it would be randomly sending CSAC inspectors to USA Boxing
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sanctioned events to ensure safety at those events.
When CAMO was first created and received authority from CSAC to
oversee amateur MMA, there was no consensus on safety standards
for amateur MMA and CAMO the founders reported that it was
unnecessary and even dangerous for the fighters to wear
headgear. It does not appear that CSAC ever adopted regulations
to clearly outline the difference between professional
regulations and amateur regulations prior to delegating its
authority. Additionally, CSAC struggled with a definition of
what constitutes "full contact" and should therefore be
regulated. While CAMO presented substantial regulations and
clear standards for the components necessary to oversee amateur
MMA, there is some concern that CSAC was not yet in a position
in its own process and according to its own procedures to assist
in the creation of the CAMO program. CSAC also worked with a
small group of stakeholders to create a new model for regulation
which may have omitted the input of many passionate athletes and
organizers. CAMO established a fee structure for licensing that
exceeds any of the fees collected by CSAC. Many groups
determined to be under CAMO's regulatory authority still balk at
the fee structure, citing that high fees are cost prohibitive to
conduct events. According to the State Auditor, CSAC may have
opportunities to generate revenue by regulating amateur MMA
rather than delegating its authority to CAMO.
Pankration safety concerns . Recent features on Nightline and
Dateline focused on young children in Southern California who
compete in pankration events that take place in cages, similar
to those made popular by professional MMA outfit, the Ultimate
Fighting Championship. In the feature, clips from a pankration
event, put on by the United States Fight League (USFL), showed a
young girl being hit in the face by a young boy during a match
in a cage. USFL has consistently countered that the clip has
been taken out of context, that the organization's rules do not
allow for strikes to the head and the match was stopped by a
referee once the head strikes occurred. The event was not
regulated by CAMO, which has been delegated CSAC's authority for
regulating amateur MMA. USFL events like the one featured in
the media clip have no requirements for medical and safety
standards like those required by CSAC and CAMO. USFL's written
rules, which govern its events, specifically restrict strikes to
the head and USFL management claim that the rules are consistent
with other light contact sports like karate and tae kwon do
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which are decided on a point scoring system, rather than by harm
to the opponent as in MMA. However, USFL pankration events do
allow knee strikes which are not allowed in any other grappling
sports like judo or jiu jitsu or even kickboxing. MMA and Muay
Thai, a sport very similar to MMA, are the only disciplines
other than pankration, as practiced and promoted by USFL, that
also allow knee strikes. Additionally, there are age
restrictions for amateur Muay Thai particpants, allowing only
youth 16 years of age and older to compete in that sport, while
pankration events do not have any age restriction and
participants as young as five years old have competed in these
events.
In March 2009, CSAC first expressed concern about youth
pankration events in California, specifically that head strikes
were taking place and the events were not regulated. CSAC staff
and DCA Legal Counsel attended pankration events and reviewed
videos and organization rules to determine if the activity
constituted full contact combat sports and should be regulated.
Organizers modified rules numerous times to evade regulation
until CSAC received a formal legal opinion in 2010, which found
that pankration is a form of full contact MMA, subject to CSAC's
oversight.
Throughout 2009 and 2010, the USFL, which was known then as the
Amateur Pankration League/USA Pankration, came before CSAC and
the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development
Committee contesting the determination that their sport is full
contact, under CSAC's jurisdiction, and since the group put on
amateur shows, would be regulated by CAMO on CSAC's behalf. The
group continues to testify at CSAC hearings that they are not
full contact, despite the video clips recently highlighted on
Nightline and Dateline, as well as those used by CSAC's Legal
Counsel to make the original determination. However, the USFL
President has described his events as "kids MMA" or "MMA events
for kids" when promoting the competitions, creating a
significant lack of clarity. A recent subcommittee meeting of
CSAC received testimony that there is a lack of consistency
among the trainers and youth pankration promoters in terms of
requirements for medical evaluations prior to competitions.
Pankration stakeholders also recently testified that they
believe that only practices which result in injuries, as logged
and tracked so as to create statistics about such injuries,
should be excluded from events and the organization's rules.
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USFL recently testified that it supports the regulation of youth
pankration, but that the events should only be governed by the
USFL rules, rather than general rules for full contact MMA as
those outlined by CAMO.
At its annual meeting last month, the Association of Boxing
Commissions Medical Safety Committee issued the following
guidelines for amateur combat events:
1.Amateur events should be regulated by State Athletic
Commissions or participating jurisdictions, since amateur
combat sports participants have fewer skill sets, but run the
same or greater risk of injury as do professional combat
sports competitors.
2.Minimum medical requirements for participation in any amateur
event with modified rules (such as no elbow striking to the
head on the ground in MMA) should include:
Annual history and physical examination.
Baseline CBC, blood chemistries, lipid profile, clotting
times.
Communicable disease testing (HIV1/2, Hepatitis BsAg,
hepatitis C Ab) (every six months).
Annual ophthalmologic examination.
Baseline neurologic testing.
The reviewing Commission/jurisdiction physician may require
further testing depending on the results of those submitted
prior to licensure/fight clearance.
Suspensions of amateurs post-fight should be submitted to the
appropriate national Web site (fightfax.com;
abc.mixedmartialarts.com).
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FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/5/13)
Bellator MMA
California State Athletic Commission
Roy Englebrecht Promotions
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, this
bill is necessary to ensure the health and safety of young
children participating in certain amateur MMA events, known as
pankration. Event organizers have used loopholes in state law
to escape CSAC regulations, which puts kids at risk for serious
injury. Pankration organizers have testified at numerous CSAC
meetings and in communications to CSAC that their sport includes
only light or partial contact, thus does not fall under the
jurisdiction of CSAC, which has oversight responsibilities for
full contact sports. Pankration event organizers in California
have also argued that CSAC does not license athletes under the
age of 16, and since the youth participating in their events are
under 16, CSAC does not have jurisdiction to regulate pankration
events. According to the author's office, clarifying the
definition of full contact to ensure proper oversight of youth
events in California will provide for important safety
precautions at youth pankration events, including physical
examinations for participants, physician attendance at all
events, and a medical insurance program for all contests.
Supporters believe that this bill protects the health and safety
of children who participate in full contact martial arts events.
Roy Englebrecht Promotions/Fight Club OC and Bellator MMA note
that "it is essential that the Commission be provided every tool
necessary to keep athletes safe, especially child participants."
They state that this bill is critical to protect the health and
well-being of children.
MW:d 9/5/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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