BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2138|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2138
Author: Low (D) and Bonta (D)
Amended: 4/20/16 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE BUS., PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMMITTEE: 8-0, 6/6/16
AYES: Hill, Bates, Block, Gaines, Galgiani, Hernandez,
Mendoza, Wieckowski
NO VOTE RECORDED: Jackson
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 5/9/16 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Sellers of travel
SOURCE: California Tour Guide Coalition
DIGEST: This bill clarifies that the Sellers of Travel law
applies to sellers of travel in California that offer travel to
visitors from outside of California.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Establishes the Sellers of Travel law (Law) which provides a
comprehensive scheme for the regulation of sellers of travel
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(SOT), as defined, and requires a SOT, unless exempted, to
register with the Attorney General (AG) and to comply with
various requirements. (Business and Professions Code (BPC) §
17550 et. seq.)
2)Defines a SOT as a person who sells, provides, furnishes,
contracts for, arranges, or advertises that he or she can or
may arrange, or has arranged, at wholesale or retail either of
the following: air or sea transportation either separately or
in conjunction with other travel services, or land or water
vessel transportation, other than sea carriage, either
separately or in conjunction with other travel services if the
total charge to the passenger exceeds three hundred dollars
($300). (BPC § 17550.1(a))
3)Establishes the Travel Consumer Restitution Corporation (TCRC)
which creates the Travel Consumer Restitution Fund (TCRF) as a
mechanism for an aggrieved passenger to be reimbursed when a
SOT fails to provide for travel or in the event that a SOT
becomes insolvent. (BPC § 17550.38)
This bill clarifies that a SOT shall be deemed to do business in
California if the SOT solicits prospective purchasers located in
the state or solicits business from locations in the state,
regardless of the geographic location of the prospective
purchaser, including persons located outside of California or
the United States.
Background
The California Tour Guide Coalition is the Sponsor of this
measure. According to the Author, "there were issues in
Southern California about travel companies promoting travel
packages to foreign visitors, specifically from China, to visit
California. For example, a travel agent would sell a package
that includes a stay at a five star hotel and a trip to
Disneyland, among other things. But what they end up getting is
a three star hotel experience and a drive-by in front of
Disneyland, a trip of much less value than the couple thousand
dollars that was paid." The Author states that this bill will
simply clarify that the SOT law includes, and applies to,
businesses or operators recruiting in a foreign country or in
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another state, if the businesses or operators are based in
California. According to the Author, in a situation like that
cited above, a consumer would then be able to benefit from the
TCRF and protections under the Law.
Sellers of Travel Law. The Law was enacted by SB 918 (Chapter
1123, Statutes of 1994), authored by then-Assemblymember Jackie
Speier and sponsored by the California Coalition of Travel
Organizations working in cooperation with the AG's office. The
Law requires all SOT to register with the AG's office, pay an
annual fee of $100 to fund the program and pay annual
assessments into a self-sustaining restitution fund (the TCRF).
The Law provides specific protections to consumers who purchase
sea or air transportation either singly or in conjunction with
other travel services, such as lodging and car rentals. The Law
applies to all sellers located in California, as well as those
who sell or offer to sell from locations outside the state to
persons located in California and applies to both retail and
wholesale transactions, covering sales by tour operators,
consolidators, and wholesalers. A seller who only offers
lodging, bus, or train tours without also offering air or sea
transportation is not covered by the Law. Lodging
establishments that book travel for their guests and accept no
money for doing so, along with airlines, and cruise lines are
also not covered by this law.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified6/21/16)
California Tour Guide Coalition (source)
OPPOSITION: (Verified6/21/16)
None received
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ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: Supporters note that there exist
growing concerns about businesses that sell or promote a
particular service or good to foreign visitors. According to
members of the California Tour Guide Coalition, consumers and
honest travel businesses are negatively impacted because of
misrepresentation by certain tour guide companies to these
foreign travelers who reside outside of the state and country.
Supporters believe that this bill is an important step forward
in the fight against unfair business practices and
misrepresentation by tour guides in California.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 5/9/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,
Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier,
Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder,
Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina,
Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen,
Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Beth Gaines, Eduardo Garcia
Prepared by:Sarah Mason / B., P. & E.D. / (916) 651-4104
6/22/16 15:15:02
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