BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 309
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 13, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND CONSUMER
PROTECTION
Susan A. Bonilla, Chair
SB 309 (Lieu) - As Amended: August 5, 2013
SENATE VOTE : 36-3
SUBJECT : State Athletic Commission.
SUMMARY : Extends the operation of the California State
Athletic Commission (Commission) until 2016, which regulates
professional and amateur boxing, kickboxing, and martial arts
contests and exhibitions; enacts fee increases and spending
restrictions to ensure the financial sustainability and
appropriate operation of the Commission; deletes the training
gymnasium license and creates a professional trainer's license;
and expands the Commission's authority to delegate and revoke
regulatory oversight of amateur contests. Specifically, this
bill :
1) Extends the sunset date of the Commission and its executive
officer to January 1, 2016.
2) Deletes annual reporting requirements related to the
identification of opportunities for licensees to participate
in major professional championship boxing contests.
3) Deletes the obsolete requirement that only a natural person
be licensed as a boxer or martial arts fighter.
4) Repeals the prohibition against a professional boxer sparring
for training purposes with any person not licensed as a
professional boxer or who does not have a sparring permit, or
operating under a related exemption.
5) Repeals the Commission's authority to issue a sparring
permit.
6) Deletes requirements related to operators of a professional
boxers' training gymnasium.
7) Permits the Commission to authorize sanctioning bodies to
administer its rules for amateur boxing, wrestling and full
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contact martial arts contests, as specified, the performance
of which may be reviewed by the Commission annually.
8) Requires sanctioning bodies to provide a medical insurance
program satisfactory to the Commission covering all
contestants, and to provide a written financial report of
receipts and disbursements to the Commission within 90 days
of an event.
9) Authorizes the Commission, at its discretion, to rescind
previously approved authorization of a nonprofit boxing,
wrestling, or martial arts club, organization, or sanctioning
body to administer its rules.
10)Repeals provisions related to the professional boxers'
training gymnasium license and owners and operators thereof.
11)Requires the trainer of a professional boxer, kickboxer, or
matrial arts athlete to be licensed by the Commission as a
professional trainer, and shall possess a minimum of five
years' experience in combative sports.
12)Authorizes licensed professional trainers to make
recommendations to the Commission as to whether or not a
contestant is prepared for his or her first amateur mixed
martial arts bout, or his or her first professional contest
in boxing, kickboxing, or mixed martial arts; further
requires the licensed professional trainer to be present in
the corner of the contestant unless otherwise authorized.
13)Requires a licensed professional trainer, fighter, boxer,
second, or manager to report an injury or knockout to the
Commission and to a database designated by the Commission, as
specified.
14)Provides that the administrative costs associated with
managing and distributing the neurological examination
account shall be limited to no more than twenty percent of
the prior year's contributions.
15)Authorizes the Commission to use moneys from the neurological
examination account, upon appropriation by the Legislature,
to fund special neurological examinations and new diagnostic
imaging and testing, as specified.
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16)Deletes existing clinic attendance requirements for referees
and physicians, and instead requires referees and physicians
assigned to a boxing contest to complete a clinic
17)Recasts provisions related to the clinic attendance
requirements for referees and physicians assigned to a boxing
contest, including deleting a provision authorizing the
Commission to pay travel expenses of clinic participants,
authorizing the clinic provider to charge a reasonable fee
for participation, and clarifying that the Commission may
offer the clinic.
18)Provides that the application and renewal fee for a licensed
professional trainer shall be $200.
19)Authorizes the Commission to charge a $20 fee to issue
Federal Identification Cards and provides that cards shall be
reissued once every four years.
20)Changes the required timeline from five working days to 72
hours for every person who conducts a contest or wrestling
exhibition for which admission is charged and received to
provide the Commission with a proper accounting of the event,
including payment of specified fees.
21)Modifies the reporting requirement for the fiscal impact of
the $100,000 limit on contests and wrestling exhibitions so
that the report is made to the Legislature during its next
sunset review.
22)Deletes conditional fee provisions related to the Boxers'
Pension Fund that are now obsolete.
23)Raises the minimum fee collected by the Commission for an
amateur contest or exhibition from $500 to $1,000, and sets
the minimum fee for a professional contest or exhibition at
$1,250.
24)Raises the maximum fee on broadcasting or television rights
collected by the Commission from $25,000 to $35,000, as
specified.
25)Limits the maximum percentage of administrative costs
associated with investing, managing and distributing the
Boxers' Pension Fund to two percent (2%) of the corpus of the
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fund.
26)States that no reimbursement is required because the only
costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new
crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or
changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, or changes the
definition of a crime.
27)Makes various other technical and clarifying changes.
EXISTING FEDERAL LAW prohibits, pursuant to the Muhammad Ali
Boxing Reform Act (Federal Boxing Act), 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. (15 U.S.C. 6303)
EXISTING STATE LAW :
1)Provides, pursuant to the Boxing Act, or State Athletic
Commission Act (State Act), for the licensing and regulation
of boxers, kickboxers, martial arts athletes and events held
in California by the Commission within the Department of
Consumer Affairs (DCA) and makes the Commission inoperative
and repealed on January 1, 2014. (Business and Professions
Code (BPC) Section 18600, et seq.)
2)Provides that the Commission is comprised of seven members,
five members appointed by the Governor and subject to
confirmation by the Senate Committee on Rules confirmation,
one member appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules and one
member appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly. Specifies
that efforts should be made to ensure at least four members
have experience in either medicine as a licensed physician or
surgeon specializing in neurology, neurosurgery, head trauma
or sports medicine, financial management, public safety, and
the sports regulated by the Commission. (BPC 18602)
3)Provides that protection of the public shall be the highest
priority for the Commission in exercising its licensing,
regulatory, and disciplinary functions, and whenever the
protection of the public is inconsistent with other interests
sought to be promoted, the protection of the public shall be
paramount. (BPC 18602.1)
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4)Provides that the Commission may license professional and
amateur boxers, professional and amateur martial arts
fighters, and booking agents, managers of professional boxers
and professional martial arts fighters, trainers, chief
seconds, and seconds of each and that only a natural person
may be licensed as a boxer and martial arts fighter. (BPC
18642)
5)Provides that the Commission may authorize a nonprofit boxing,
wrestling, or martial arts club or organization, upon approval
of its bylaws, to administer its rules for amateur boxing,
wrestling, and full contact martial arts contests. Requires
the Commission to review the performance of any such club or
organization annually. Requires the Commission to review
compliance with requirements for amateur contests to be
preceded by a physical examination of every contestant, that a
physician is in attendance at the contest and that the
organization has a medical insurance program covering all
contestants. Requires an organization to provide written
financial reports of receipts and disbursements within 90 days
of an amateur event. (BPC 18646)
6)Provides that no person shall conduct or operate a
professional boxers' training gymnasium unless he or she has a
license issued by the Commission under this chapter. (BPC
18653 & 18654)
7)Requires athletes to undergo a physical examination by a
physician prior to a contest and requires a physician to
certify in writing the contestant's physical condition to
engage in the contest or match. Requires a contestant to
complete a questionnaire on which he or she discloses any
conditions of which the contestant is aware, including
pregnancy. States if any specified condition is disclosed,
the physician shall not allow the contestant to compete unless
the physician or the contestant's personal physician, who is
licensed to practice medicine in the U.S., has conducted a
physical examination and determined that the specific
condition does not affect the contestant's ability to perform
or present a potential threat to the contestant's health as a
result of competing in the contest or match. (BPC 18706)
8)Provides that the Commission shall require, as a condition of
licensure and as a part of the application process, each
applicant for a license as a professional athlete or
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contestant licensed by the Commission to undergo an
examination by a licensed physician and surgeon who
specializes in neurology and neurosurgery. Provides that the
cost of the examinations shall be paid from assessments on any
one or more of the following: promoters of professional
matches, managers, and professional athletes or other
contestants licensed under this chapter. Provides that the
rate and manner of assessment shall be set by the Commission,
and may cover all costs associated with the examinations. (BPC
18711)
9)Provides that no referee or physician shall be assigned to a
boxing contest who has not participated in a clinic sponsored
by the Commission in accordance with this section in the
preceding six months. Specifies that clinics shall include,
among other things, the subjects of the rules of the
Commission, the recognition and diagnosis of serious or
life-threatening, boxing-related and neurological injuries and
disorders, and refereeing a bout. Authorizes the Commission
to pay any necessary and authorized travel expenses of
referees and physicians who attend such clinics. (BPC 18731)
10)Establishes a five working day timeline for every person who
conducts a contest or wrestling exhibition for which admission
is charged and received to provide the Commission with proper
accounting and payment. (BPC 18824 (a))
11)Establishes a fee of five percent (5%) of the amount paid for
admission to the contest or wrestling exhibition, not to
exceed the amount of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000)
to be paid to the Commission by every person who conducts a
contest or wrestling exhibition for which admission is charged
and received. Requires the Commission to provide a report to
the Legislature on the fiscal impact of the one hundred
thousand dollar ($100,000) limit on fees collected by the
Commission for admissions revenues. States that if the fee
for any one boxing contest exceeds seventy thousand dollars
($70,000), the amount in excess of seventy thousand dollars
($70,000) shall be paid one-half to the Commission and
one-half to the Boxers' Pension Fund. Establishes a fee of up
to five percent for the sale, lease, or other exploitation of
broadcasting or television rights thereof to be paid to the
Commission by every person who conducts a contest or wrestling
exhibition, with the minimum fee being one thousand dollars
($1,000) and the maximum being twenty-five thousand dollars
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($25,000). (BPC 18824)
12)Establishes requirements for promoters to pay into the
Pension Fund. States that the Pension Fund is a retirement
fund and provides that no more than 20 percent (20%) of the
annual contribution in the previous two years shall be used
for administrative costs associated with investing, managing
and distributing the Pension Fund. (BPC 18882)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of this bill . This bill would extend the sunset date
of the Commission by two years to 2016, and enact financial
reforms that include fee updates and spending restrictions to
ensure the financial sustainability of the Commission, which
nearly went bankrupt in 2012. The bill also deletes the
training gymnasium license, creates a professional trainer's
license, and expands the Commission's authority to delegate
and revoke regulatory oversight of amateur contests. The
contents of this bill are the result of the 2013 joint sunset
review process, and are without opposition. This bill is
author-sponsored.
2)Author's statement . According to the author, "This bill is
necessary to extend the sunset date of the Commission in order
to continue the regulation of boxing, kickboxing and MMA
[mixed martial arts] in California. The continued regulation
will help to ensure that the Commission's mission of
protecting the public is in place for an additional [two]
years.
"There have been concerns raised for the past number of years
about significant and ongoing problems with the way this
Commission does business but that in order to ensure the
protection, health, welfare and safety of the athletes and
fighters licensed by the Commission who participate in sports
and events the Commission oversees, the Commission should
continue to operate. Federal Law, the Muhammad Ali Boxing
Reform Act (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. Regulated events result in higher levels of
protection for fighters than unauthorized or illegal events,
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in addition to added revenue for the state and a boon to the
local economy where events take place."
3)About the 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, 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 mixed martial arts (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 a pension fund.
The Commission is responsible for implementation and
enforcement of the Federal Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act
(Federal Boxing Act) and the California Boxing Act or State
Athletic Commission Act (State 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 licenses a number of individuals
related to the participation in, oversight for and management
of events in California.
The Commission is comprised of seven members appointed by the
Governor, Senate and Assembly. The Commission meets roughly
six times per year, and is subject to the Bagley-Keene Open
Meeting Act. The Commission is funded by regulatory and
license fees, including capped percentages of "gate fees" and
"TV fees" for regulated events. Its budget authority for
FY2012-13 was $1.939 million, although its FY 2014-15 budget
is less than $1.2 million.
4)The sunset review process . A "sunset review" is essentially a
performance review of a government entity, usually driven by
the statutory expiration date of that's entity's authority to
operate. The review focuses on how well the entity is
performing relative to its goals, considering its
cost-effectiveness and measuring its successes and failures.
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As a result of the sunset review process, which includes the
production of a detailed report noting problems and
suggestions for change as well as a public hearing, the
Legislature may choose to let the entity expire, or extend its
sunset date for a period of time (usually for four years)
often in conjunction with other legislative reforms. Sunset
review is traditionally conducted jointly by the Senate
Business, Professions & Economic Development (BPED) and
Assembly Business, Professions and Consumer Protection
Committees.
In April 2013, this Committee, BPED, and other committees
conducted joint oversight hearings to review 15 regulatory
boards within the DCA, including the Commission. This bill is
intended to implement some of the legislative changes to the
Commission recommended in BPED's staff report and discussed in
the public hearing. The Commission's last sunset review was
in 2011.
5)Prior problems with the Commission; prior BSA audit findings .
After the reconstitution of the Commission in 2007 and its
2011 sunset review, reports of problems with the Commission
continued to be raised, the most substantial stemming from the
Commission's near bankruptcy in 2012. As a result, a solvency
plan based on a combination of measures to reduce expenditures
and increase revenues was put into place and a new Executive
Officer was hired in November 2012.
The Bureau of State Audits (BSA) reported on improper
governmental activities by agencies and employees of the state
in 2012, highlighting overpayment by the Commission to 18
part-time field inspector staff totaling $118,700 from January
2009 through December 2010, because it inappropriately paid
them an hourly overtime rate rather than an hourly
straight-time rate for work they performed. BSA completed a
subsequent review of the Commission in response to a request
by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC) in June 2012,
the results of which are contained in a report published March
2013 "State Athletic Commission: Its Ongoing Administrative
Struggles Call Its Future Into Question".
The 2013 BSA report found that: (1) the Commission's solvency
plan may not be practical; (2) the Commission does not track
information about projected revenue and expenditures in a
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manner conducive to proper budgeting; (3) the Commission does
not receive all of the revenue due from events and athletes;
(4) inspectors may not perform necessary health and safety
regulatory functions at events; and, (5) the Pension Fund is
still not administered properly. Simultaneously, the DCA
conducted an internal audit of the Commission, which found
numerous deficiencies in Commission operations, particularly
those related to event regulation and revenue reconciling for
events.
6)Recent improvements at the Commission . Since the 2011 sunset
review of the Commission, a number of administrative
improvements have been made, primarily since November 2012
when the Commission hired a new Executive Officer.
Those improvements include: increasing outreach to retired
boxers eligible to draw from the Pension Fund; completing a
strategic plan for 2013-15; improving standardized cash
handling procedures; creating standard operating procedures in
an administrative manual for field staff; holding and tracking
inspector trainings; instituting a more efficient system for
assigning staff to events; issuing required federal ID's to
athletes prior to events; and issuing laptops to field staff
to improve eligibility compliance and information processing.
7)Remaining issues raised by the 2013 sunset review process .
Despite recent improvements, many concerns remain unresolved
and new issues have arisen. The 2013 sunset review report on
the Commission outlined twenty-one separate issues for
discussion by the participating committees.
The major issues raised in the 2013 sunset report are:
a) Budget problems, use of existing funds and financial
sustainability . The Commission is funded through
regulatory and license fees, including fees based on event
receipts from ticket sales and television broadcasting
rights. In June 2012, the DCA budget staff reported to
Commission members that it faced a deficit of nearly
$700,000 by the end of FY 2013.
The Commission is currently operating according to a solvency
plan implemented in 2012 to address its significant budget
shortfall, however, this plan may not be feasible in the
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long term because the Commission is authorized to spend
less than $1.2 million in FY 2014/15. Substantial cuts to
the Commission budget may be impacting its ability to
protect fighters and effectively regulate the sports within
its jurisdiction: budget cuts have led to layoffs, fewer
inspectors at regulated events and numerous executive
management vacancies.
It has been difficult for the Commission to adequately
predict revenues over time in the manner that other
licensing boards do, given the fluid nature of the
Commission licensing revenues and fluctuations in the
sports that may dictate when events do or do not take
place. In order to ensure that the Commission has the
resources to safely monitor events and uses those funds
appropriately, this bill would increase certain licensing
and event fees, and limit the administrative costs that may
be charged to certain funds:
i) Impose a $20 fee once every four years on athletes
for the Commission to issue a federal ID card. The
Commission contends that this fee is actually less than
the cost of issuance, but sufficient to deter athletes
from carelessly losing and replacing the cards.
ii) Limit the administrative costs associated with
managing and distributing the neurological examination
account to no more than twenty percent of the prior
year's contributions.
iii) Grant authority to the Commission to contract with a
third party to conduct training sessions for officials
and clarify that the third party may charge attendees a
fee, while removing the authority of the Commission to
pay necessary travel expenses of referees and physicians
who attend such clinics.
iv) Raise the minimum fee collected by the Commission
for an amateur contest or exhibition from $500 to $1,000,
and specify that the minimum fee due to the Commission
for a professional event is $1,250. According to the
author, these fees are viewed as a modest increase with
industry support, and are aimed to help improve the
Commission's finances so it can continue regulating
contests properly. A more precise analysis of actual
costs will be undertaken by the Commission in the future.
v) Raise the maximum limit for fees on broadcasting or
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television rights that may be collected by the Commission
from $25,000 to $35,000. According to the author, this
fee is the lowest, or equal to the lowest, such
regulatory fee in the nation, meaning that the fee
increase enacted by this bill should not change the
incentive promoters have to hold events in California.
vi) Limit the administrative costs associated with
investing, managing and distributing the Pension Fund to
two percent (2%) of the corpus of the fund.
b) Accountability in training of professional athletes .
Current law requires the Commission to oversee licensed
fighters and the individuals that train them. The State
Act requires that a professional boxer only spar with an
individual possessing a sparring permit, and that gyms
track sparring and report it to the Commission. The
Commission reported in its Sunset Report that the
requirement for approval of, and reporting from, a sparring
partner is unique to California and is not practical. This
requirement has not historically been complied with in
California, and may be impossible for the Commission to
enforce given its current resources.
Instead, the Commission has recommended that it instead
monitor professional trainers as a new licensing category.
The Professional Trainer would be licensed by the
Commission, pay a fee, and would have to sign off on the
application of any professional fighter making his or her
debut. This additional accountability measure would allow
the Commission to evaluate possible poor performance of the
fighter and take action against not only the fighter but
also the Professional Trainer associated with that fighter.
Accordingly, this bill would:
i) Delete the professional boxers' training gymnasium
license, and related requirements for owners or operators
of such gymnasiums.
ii) Institute a professional trainer's license with a
$200 licensing fee and establish accountability measures
for professional trainers to report an athlete injury to
the Commission prior to a bout.
c) Delegation of Commission authority for overseeing
amateur sports. The Commission has the "sole direction,
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management, control of, and jurisdiction over all
professional and amateur boxing, professional and amateur
kickboxing, all forms and combinations of forms of full
contact martial arts contests, including mixed martial
arts, and matches or exhibitions conducted, held, or given
within this state". Current law allows the Commission to
delegate its authority to oversee amateur sports to a
qualified nonprofit organization if the Commission
determines that the nonprofit "meets or exceeds the safety
and fairness standards of the Commission." Many
sanctioning outfits are actually for-profit organizations
but often have national or international authority over a
particular sport. California is unique in requiring that a
delegated authority have nonprofit status.
The Commission has delegated its regulatory oversight
responsibilities for amateur boxing and MMA to two
different nonprofit organizations; USA Boxing, Inc., and
the California Amateur Mixed Martial Arts Organization
(CAMO), respectively.
There have been several issues with USA Boxing that raised
some concern regarding the oversight of amateur boxing. In
2009, the Commission 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 the Commission staff
negotiated stricter requirements regarding safety,
background checks, reporting and record keeping. The
Commission voted to place USA Boxing on probation until
June 2010. In 2013, the Commission informed USA Boxing
that it would be randomly assigning Commission inspectors
to USA Boxing sanctioned events to ensure regulatory
compliance and safety at those events.
Issues regarding delegated oversight of MMA have been
raised as well. For example, when CAMO was first created
and received authority from the Commission to oversee
amateur MMA, CAMO founders reported that there was no
consensus on safety standards for amateur MMA and that it
was unnecessary and even dangerous for the fighters to wear
headgear. According to the author, the Commission never
adopted regulations to clearly outline the difference
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between professional and amateur regulations prior to
delegating its authority, and even struggled with the
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, the author is concerned that the Commission had not
yet developed comprehensive standards, or even fully
considered the viewpoints of all major stakeholders, when
it delegated oversight authority to CAMO. Moreover, the
licensing fee structure established by CAMO exceeds any of
the fees collected by the Commission. In fact, many groups
determined to be under CAMO's regulatory authority oppose
its fee structure, stating that its high fees are
prohibitive for certain events.
BSA has also reported that the Commission may be able to
generate operating revenue by regulating amateur MMA itself
rather than delegating its authority to CAMO.
The author believes that the Commission's authority needs
to be updated to ensure that it has the ability to suspend
or replace organizations it selects to oversee and
administer amateur events. Accordingly, this bill would:
i) Clarify that a "sanctioning body" is one of the
eligible organizations to which the Commission may
delegate its authority for oversight of amateur sports,
and authorizes the Commission to revoke the authority for
a previously authorized nonprofit club, organization or
sanctioning body to administer its rules for amateur
boxing, wrestling, and full contact martial arts
contests.
d) Limited sunset extension . Taking into consideration the
severity of the problems encountered in the recent past
with the Commission and the strong improvement it has shown
since November 2012, and in light of the many changes
recommended as a result of the sunset review process and
the issues that remain unresolved, the author has adopted a
limited sunset extension of two years for the Commission
and its Executive Officer. This would allow the Commission
to continue its work, but with the certainty that the
Legislature will review its performance in 2015 to ensure
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that the improvement continues or else it will take other
appropriate action.
8)Arguments in support . The Center for Public Interest Law
(CPIL), , writes "CPIL has closely monitored the Commission's
many woes over the past several years - specifically, multiple
sunset reviews and reconstitution of the Commission's
membership in 2007, numerous external audits whose
recommendations have gone unheeded, its impending insolvency
approximately one year ago, and very critical audits released
earlier this year by the Bureau of State Audits (BSA) and
[DCA], not to mention [the Senate Business, Professions and
Economic Development Committee's] background paper during the
Commission's sunset review hearing in April 2013. A year ago,
CPIL would not have supported extension of this Commission
under its prior staff leadership. The Commission's precarious
financial condition, coupled with the BSA and DCA audits,
called into question the ability of the Commission and its
staff to handle even the most basic and ministerial duties
effectively and efficiently.
"However, new Commissioner Executive Officer Andy Foster has
made many changes to the Commission's procedures on a number
of levels. Among many other changes, the Commission - under
Mr. Foster's leadership - now tracks specific event revenues
and expenses to show how much money is made or lost per event;
has balanced its 2012-13 budget and is working on a long-term
financial plan to ensure solvency; has reduced the number of
athletic inspectors who attend each match, and assigned them
based on their location and the location of the match to
reduce travel costs; and held two training sessions for
athletic inspectors. In a very short time, Mr. Foster has
decisively addressed significant shortcomings in many areas,
and we believe he deserves a chance to continue to tackle the
deficiencies identified by BSA and DCA?.[W]e will take a
position on the bill later in the summer should circumstances
warrant. However, we wanted you to know of our support for the
Commission's continued existence under the leadership of Andy
Foster."
According to promoter Roy Englebrecht Promotions/Fight Club OC,
"As one of the longest stakeholders in the CSAC, I have
watch[ed] the ups and a lot of the downs that have existed
over the past 20 years. But I have NEVER been more excited and
pleased to see the tremendous change that has come to CSAC
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since the hiring of Executive Officer Andy Foster nearly one
year ago. For the first time in many years, I am proud to be a
fight promoter in California, and realize that the future of
our sport and the business that I love is finally heading in
the right direction under Andy Foster. Thank you for your
support and vote in favor of SB 309."
9)Double-referral . This bill was previously heard by the
Assembly Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet
Media Committee on June 25, 2013, and passed out on a 6-0
vote.
10)Previous legislation . SB 543 (Price, Chapter 448, Statutes of
2011) extended the Commission's sunset date for two years,
from January 1, 2012 to January 1, 2014.
AB 2100 (Alejo) of 2012 would have required that the Commission
establish and enforce, in consultation with the Association of
Boxing Commissioners, a professional code of conduct in
relation to mixed martial arts contestants, and that persons
seeking payment as promoters must make specified disclosures
to the Commission prior to being compensated. AB 2100 failed
passage in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SB 294 (Negrete McLeod) (Chapter 695, Statutes of 2010) extended
the Commission's sunset date for one year, from January 1,
2011 to January 1, 2012.
SB 963 (Ridley-Thomas) (Chapter 385, Statutes of 2008) extended
the Commission's sunset date for two years, from July 1, 2009
to January 1, 2011.
SB 247 (Perata) (Chapter 465, Statutes of 2006) reconstituted
the Commission on January 1, 2007 as an independent board
through July 1, 2009, following its sunset in July 2006.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Center for Public Interest Law (CPIL)
Roy Englebrecht Promotions/ Fight Club OC
Opposition
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None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Hank Dempsey / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301