BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1186 Page 1 ( Without Reference to Fil e) CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 1186 (Bonilla) As Amended September 6, 2013 2/3 vote. Urgency ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: | |(May 30, 2013) |SENATE: |36-0 |(September 11, 2013) | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (vote not relevant) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |COMMITTEE VOTE: |5-0 |(September 12, |RECOMMENDATION: |concur | |(A.,E.,S.,T. & | |2013) | | | |I.M.) | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Original Committee Reference: ED. SUMMARY : Clarifies that the California State Athletic Commission (Commission) 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 the Commission to be similar, and that an amateur contest includes a contest where full contact is used, even if unintentionally. The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of the bill and instead: 1) Remove "partial contact" from the definition of a contest or match. 2) Clarify that "full contact" means the use of full 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) Clarify that an amateur contest or match includes a contest or match where full contact is used, even if unintentionally. 4) Specify that an amateur contest or match does not include light AB 1186 Page 2 contact karate, tae kwon-do, judo, or any other light contact martial arts as approved by the Commission and recognized by the International Olympic Committee as an Olympic sport. 5) Clarify that the Commission shall have jurisdiction over all forms and combination of forms of full contact martial arts contests involving participants 18 years of age or younger. 6) Require the Commission 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 be sufficiently similar. Require the subcommittee to make recommendations to the Commission regarding any administrative actions or statutory changes to be enacted that may be necessary to improve its regulation and oversight of contests in order to adequately protect participants. Provide that the pankration subcommittee shall consist of three members of the Commission 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. 1) State that this is an urgency measure necessary to take effect immediately for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution. 2) Add double-jointing language consistent with SB 309 (Lieu) of the current legislative session to avoid chaptering-out issues. FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs. COMMENTS : Author's Statement of Support : According to the author, this bill is necessary to ensure the health and safety of young children AB 1186 Page 3 participating in certain amateur Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) events, known as pankration. According to the author, event organizers have used loopholes in state law to escape Commission regulations, which puts kids at risk for serious injury. Pankration organizers have testified at numerous Commission meetings and in communications to the Commission that their sport includes only light or partial contact, thus does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Commission, which has oversight responsibilities for full contact sports. Pankration event organizers in California have also argued that the Commission does not license athletes under the age of 16, and since the youth participating in their events are under 16, the Commission does not have jurisdiction to regulate pankration events. According to the author, 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. Background - California State Athletic Commission : The Commission is responsible for protecting the health and safety of its licensees; boxers, kickboxers and martial arts athletes. Established by initiative in 1924, stemming from concerns for athletes' injuries and deaths, the Commission 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. The Commission oversees licensing, prohibited substance testing, and event regulation. Functionally, the Commission consists of four components; licensing, enforcement, regulating events and administering the Pension Fund. The Commission is responsible for implementation and enforcement of the Boxing Act and the State Athletic Commission Act. The Commission 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, the Commission supervised close to 200 events. The Commission has so far supervised over 40 events in 2013. The Commission licenses a number of individuals related to the participation in, oversight for and management of events in California. AB 1186 Page 4 The current Commission mission statement, as stated in its Strategic Plan, is as follows: The California State Athletic Commission is dedicated to the health, safety and welfare of participants in regulated competitive sporting events, through ethical and professional service. Sport of Pankration (Also Known As MMA for Kids) Safety Concerns : According to the United States Fight League, (USFL) Web site, pankration is the oldest Martial art on record and was the most prestigious event of the Ancient Olympics which combined elements of boxing and wrestling. "The rules were brutal and simple, all but eye gouging and biting was allowed while the referees enforced their rules with a large stick. "Modern pankration is a martial art that encompasses grappling, limited contact and full contact competitions. Rules emphasize technique and sportsmanship at all levels. The amateur program presents a safe sport suitable for competitors of all ages from all styles of martial arts. The USFL provides the safest and most progressive route to prepare for International Amateur Competition or a professional fighting career." In March 2009, the Commission first expressed concern about youth pankration events in California, specifically that head strikes were taking place and the events were not regulated. Commission staff and Department of Consumer Affairs (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 are alleged to have modified rules numerous times to evade regulation until the Commission received a formal legal opinion in 2010, which found that pankration is a form of full contact MMA, subject to the Commission's oversight. Throughout 2009 and 2010, the USFL, which was known then as the Amateur Pankration League/USA Pankration, came before the Commission and the Senate Business and Professions Committee contesting the determination that their sport is full contact, under the Commission's jurisdiction, and since the group put on amateur shows, would be regulated by California Amateur Martial Arts Organization (CAMO) on the Commission's behalf. The group continues to testify at Commission hearings that they are not full contact, despite the video clips recently highlighted on Nightline and Dateline, as well as those used by the Commission's Legal AB 1186 Page 5 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 the Commission 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. 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. Regulatory Responses to Concerns : At its annual meeting last month, the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) Medical Safety Committee issued the following guidelines for amateur combat events: a)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. b)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: i) annual history and physical examination; ii) baseline CBC, blood chemistries, lipid profile, clotting times; iii) communicable disease testing (HIV1/2, Hepatitis BsAg, Hepatitis C Ab) every six months; iv) annual ophthalmologic examination; v) baseline neurologic testing. c)The reviewing Commission/jurisdiction physician may require further testing depending on the results of those submitted prior to licensure/fight clearance. d)Suspensions of amateurs post-fight should be submitted to the appropriate national Web site (Fight-Fax, ABCMixedMartialArts.com). The Commission appointed a Youth Pankration Subcommittee, which delivered the following recommendations and findings at the August 5, 2013, Commission meeting, after their investigation into the AB 1186 Page 6 sport: a)Young athletes, particularly under age 11, mixed-gender bouts, and children's fights in cages, have caused attention and concern for the safety of the children - particularly from the Legislature and the media. b)Youth pankration is a full contact activity as defined in Business and Professions Code Section 18640 and legal opinions interpreting that statute. Thus, it is within the jurisdiction of the Commission to regulate. c)CAMO is the current delegatee of the Commission to regulate pankration events. d)USFL officials intentionally created separate rules, including a separate scoring system, for the purpose of avoiding "full contact" regulation under the Commission and CAMO. e)USFL appears to be an organization of committed persons, families and children who have the best interests of the kids as their motivation and have heretofore done a good job creating a culture of support, maturity and relative safety for youth pankration events. f)The high cost of competing in CAMO amateur events is a major factor in the effort to create a sport and sanctioning organization for youth pankration separate and exempt from regulation under the Commission and CAMO. g)Youth pankration needs to be regulated to protect and assure the proper support and safety of the children and parents involved. h)Statutory updates and clarifications would help define the Commission's responsibility and authority over youth pankration. Please see the policy committee analysis for full discussion of this bill. Analysis Prepared by : Dana Mitchell / A.,E.,S.,T. & I.M. / (916) 319-3450 FN: 0002832 AB 1186 Page 7