BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1107
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Date of Hearing: May 6, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
1107 (Irwin) - As Amended April 8, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill authorizes electronic billing of a seller of travel
(SOT) by the Travel Consumer Restitution Corporation; requires
that the SOT retain business records for at least three years
for auditing purposes; and, provides for cost recovery for the
AB 1107
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Attorney General's office when a violation is found during an
audit of business records.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Negligible fiscal impact to the California Department of
Justice.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, "AB 1107 is intended to
update California's unique and effective Seller of Travel
(SOT) law in order to enhance the consumer protections and the
efficiency of the law, by authorizing electronic billing by
the Travel Consumer Restitution Corporation (TCRC) of sellers
of travel to support the travel restitution fund, requiring
that SOTs retain at least 3 years of business records for
auditing purposes, and allowing the Attorney General's office
to recover its costs from an audit when a violation has been
determined."
2)Background. In 1995, the State of California enacted the SOT
Law designed to protect consumers from unscrupulous travel
providers. Several other states, including Florida, Hawaii,
Iowa, Nevada, and Washington, have their own versions of SOT
laws that require registration and trust funds provisions
similar to California. The SOT law requires a seller of
travel to register with the AG's office and mandates that
passenger funds be maintained in a trust account. As part of
the SOT law, the Travel Consumer Restitution Fund was
established to provide an expeditious route for aggrieved
passengers to recover for loss when a seller of travel fails
to deliver the travel documents, becomes insolvent, or refuses
to refund a client.
AB 1107
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Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081