BILL NUMBER: AB 2249	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 30, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Cooley, Bigelow, and Gray
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Achadjian, Bloom, Brown, Dababneh,
Dodd, Eggman, Cristina Garcia, Gipson, Obernolte, Olsen, Patterson,
Salas, and Wagner)

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2016

   An act to add Section 5080.22 to the Public Resources Code,
relating to state parks.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2249, as amended, Cooley. State parks.
   Existing law establishes the Department of Parks and Recreation
and vests the department with the control of the state park system.
Existing law authorizes the Director of Parks and Recreation to
negotiate or renegotiate a concession contract within state parks if
specified conditions exist, and generally requires that a concession
contract within state parks for a period of more than 2 years be
awarded to the best responsible bidder.
   This bill would prohibit a concession contract from 
providing   being construed to provide  a
contracting party with, or  serving   serve
 as a basis for a legal claim or assertion that the contracting
party has, a trademark right or other financial or ownership interest
in the name or names associated with a state park venue. The bill
would prohibit a bidder who makes that legal claim or assertion from
being awarded a concession contract within state parks, and would
render a provision of a concession contract that provides, or serves
as a basis for a legal claim or assertion that the contracting party
has, a trademark right or other financial or ownership interest in
the name or names associated with a state park venue void and
unenforceable.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) National, state, and regional parks serve the public interest,
benefit California, and very often reflect historic significance
that earlier generations of Californians have attached to these
sites.
   (b) Yosemite National Park, located in California, is one of the
most important and majestic parks in the United States and is filled
with historic landmarks built several decades ago. The historic
nature of these landmarks as California heirloom destinations is
demonstrated by topographic maps of the Yosemite Valley dating back
to the 1950s, which include these venues.
   (c) The Ahwahnee Hotel was built in the 1920s with a backdrop of
Half Dome. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1977.
   (d) Curry Village, in the Yosemite Valley, is named after a San
Francisco Bay area couple who established a summer camp there in
1899. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in
1979.
   (e) The Wawona Hotel is a complex of seven buildings in the
southwest corner of Yosemite National Park. The first building, then
named "Long White," was originally constructed in 1876. The main
hotel building originally opened in 1879. It was placed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
   (f) California state park venues are held in public trust for the
people of California. A legal claim by an individual to have a
trademark right to a name or names associated with a venue within a
state park derogates the interests of California and the shared
history of Californians, and it is indicative of a lack of the
individual's fitness to serve as a steward of the state's cherished
cultural heritage and places.
   (g) An agreement entered into by any California state agency that
compromises the interests of Californians is "ultra vires" and
therefore beyond that agency's legal authority to enter.
   (h) It is important that the Legislature clarify that an awarded
concession contract within California's state parks does not give the
concessionaire a trademark right to the name or names associated
with a state park venue. Furthermore, a concessionaire who makes a
legal claim to have that trademark right should be disqualified from
further consideration as a bidder.
  SEC. 2.  Section 5080.22 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
   5080.22.  (a) A concession contract awarded pursuant to Section
 5080.05 or 5080.16   5080.05, 5080.16, or
5080.23  shall not  be construed to  provide the
contracting party with, or serve as a basis for any legal claim or
assertion that the contracting party has, a trademark or other
financial or ownership interest in the name or names associated with
a state park venue.
   (b) A bidder who makes a legal claim or assertion to have a
trademark or other financial or ownership interest described in
subdivision (a) shall not be awarded a contract pursuant to Section
 5080.05 or 5080.16.   5080.05, 5080.16, or
5080.23. 
   (c) A provision of a contract or other agreement entered into
pursuant to Section  5080.05 or 5080.16  
5080.05, 5080.16, or 5080.23  that violates subdivision (a)
shall be void and unenforceable.