BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2106 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 4, 2016 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Lorena Gonzalez, Chair AB 2106 (Irwin) - As Amended March 10, 2016 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Arts, Entertainment, Sports, |Vote:|7 - 0 | |Committee: |Tourism, and Internet Media | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No SUMMARY: This bill makes several modifications to the Seller of Travel (SOT) Law, in order to increase consumer protections. Specifically, this bill: 1)Requires sellers of travel to provide their file number, as issue by the Secretary of State, to the Consumer Law Division of the Attorney General's (AG's) Office, and requires the AG to suspense the registration of a seller of travel who fails to do so. AB 2106 Page 2 2)Prohibits the issuance, approval or renewal of a registration until the seller of travel has paid any outstanding assessments to the Travel Consumer Restitution Fund (TCRF). 3)Stipulates that any person aggrieved who files a claim for payment from the TCRF waives their right to bring an action against the seller of travel unless the seller of travel has not been a paid-up participant in the TCRF at any time during the 12 months prior to the sale. 4)Expands the exemptions from registration requirements to include single-member limited liability corporations and "S" corporations who meet specified conditions per current law. FISCAL EFFECT: Any costs to the AG for enforcement will be minor and absorbable. COMMENTS: 1)Purpose. This bill is sponsored by the California Coalition of Travel Organizations (CCT), who argues that it updates the SOT law, first enacted in 1995, to enhance consumer protections of that law. 2)Background. Current law establishes the Travel Consumer Restitution Corporation in order to provide restitution to a person aggrieved by the failure of a seller of travel by refunding payments for air or sea transportation or travel services. The Corporation is authorized to assess sellers of travel to fund its operations and to fund the Travel Consumer AB 2106 Page 3 Restitution Fund. Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081