BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 469|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 469
Author: Hill (D)
Amended: 7/13/15
Vote: 21
SENATE BUS, PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMMITTEE: 8-0, 4/27/15
AYES: Hill, Bates, Block, Galgiani, Hernandez, Jackson,
Mendoza, Wieckowski
NO VOTE RECORDED: Berryhill
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 5/28/15
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza, Nielsen
SENATE FLOOR: 40-0, 6/2/15
AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block,
Cannella, De León, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall,
Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson,
Lara, Leno, Leyva, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning,
Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Runner,
Stone, Vidak, Wieckowski, Wolk
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 8/31/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: State Athletic Commission
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill extends the operation of the California
State Athletic Commission (Commission) until January 1, 2020 and
makes changes to the laws governing the Commission's operations
and the Commission's oversight of professional and amateur
boxing, professional and amateur kickboxing, all forms and
combinations of full contact martial arts contests, including
mixed martial arts and matches or exhibitions conducted, held or
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Page 2
given in California.
Assembly Amendments are technical and clarifying.
ANALYSIS: Existing federal law, The Muhammad Ali Boxing
Reform Act (Federal 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. (Title 15 U.S.C. § 6303)
Existing state law, the Boxing Act, or State Athletic Commission
Act (State Act), provides 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Affairs and makes the Commission inoperative and repealed on
January 1, 2016. (Business and Professions Code § 18600 et
seq.)
This bill:
1)Extends the operation of the Commission until January 1, 2020.
2)Codifies the Commission's authority to conduct drug testing
necessary to promote the health and safety of licensees by
providing that the administration or use of any drugs, alcohol
or stimulants or injections in any part of the body or the use
of any prohibited substance specified in the Prohibited List
of the World Anti-Doping Code, as promulgated by the World
Anti-Doping Agency, by a professional or amateur boxer or
martial arts fighter licensed by the Commission, is
prohibited.
3)Authorizes the Commission, in its discretion and through the
rulemaking process, to determine the necessity of exemptions
to the prohibition on prohibited substances for certain
licensees.
4)Authorizes the Commission to conduct drug testing at any time
during the period of licensure for a professional or amateur
boxer or martial arts fighter licensed by the Commission.
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5)Authorizes the Commission to collect blood and urine specimens
from a professional or amateur boxer or martial arts fighter
licensed by the Commission in order to detect the presence of
any prohibited substances. Requires collection of specimens
to be done in the presence of authorized Commission personnel.
6)Authorizes the Commission to assess a fine up to 40% of the
purse for a violation of the prohibited substances provisions
outlined above.
7)Clarifies that a majority of the appointed members of the
Commission's Advisory Committee on Medical and Safety
Standards constitute a quorum for the purposes of meeting.
8)Codifies the Commission's existing authority to recognize and
enforce contracts between boxers and managers and between
boxers and licensed clubs and extends those provisions to
include martial arts fighters. Clarifies that all disputes
between the parties to the contract, including the validity of
the contract, shall be arbitrated by the Commission pursuant
to the provisions of the contract. Authorizes the Commission
to seek cost recovery related to arbitration proceedings.
Background
In 2015, the Senate Business, Professions and Economic
Development Committee and the Assembly Business and Professions
Committee (Committees) conducted joint oversight hearings to
review 12 regulatory entities including the Commission. This
bill is intended to implement legislative changes as recommended
by staff of the Committees reflected in a Background Paper on
the Commission, as well as the discussion stemming from an
oversight hearing on the Commission.
This bill is necessary to extend the sunset date of the
Commission 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 Federal 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
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of protection for fighters than unauthorized or illegal events,
in addition to added revenue for the state and a boon to the
local economy where events take place.
Concerned with athlete injuries and death, the public
established the Commission by initiative in 1924. The
Commission is responsible for protecting the health and safety
of its licensees: boxers, kickboxers, and other martial arts
athletes. The Commission, now comprised of seven members, is
also responsible for implementation and enforcement of the
Federal Boxing Act and the State Act. It provides direction,
management, and control for professional and amateur boxing,
professional and amateur kickboxing, and all forms and
combinations of full contact martial arts contests, including
mixed martial arts and matches or exhibitions conducted, held or
given in California. The Commission has four main functions:
licensing, enforcement, regulating events and administering the
Professional Boxers' Pension Fund (Pension Fund). Specifically,
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.
During the review of the Commission, the following major issues
were discussed; recommendations for each issue comprise the
significant policy changes proposed in this bill to the State
Act and Commission operations.
Medical Advisory Committee quorum. Based on concerns that the
Commission's Advisory Committee on Medical and Safety Standards
(MAC) is not always able to establish a quorum based on member
vacancies, this bill clarifies that a majority of the appointed
members of the MAC constitute a quorum for the purposes of
ensuring that this key entity responsible for advising on
critical safety issues is able to meet regularly.
Technical changes to improve the effectiveness of the State Act
and Commission operations, use of performance enhancing
substances and drug testing costs. The Commission currently has
one of the most thorough drug testing programs in the regulated
combat sports landscape, but maintaining this important effort
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has high costs associated with it. It was determined that the
Commission's current fines may not be deterring certain activity
and may not be strong enough to make any kind of impact to
professional fighters receiving high salaries. Some athletes
receive over six figures to participate in bouts, and paying a
$2,500 fine for use of an illegal substance does not make a dent
in their earnings, thus potentially perpetuating use of the
banned drugs without any noticeable penalty. This bill enhances
the Commission's ability to conduct drug testing and authorizes
the Commission to assess a fine up to 40% of the total purse for
a violation of the prohibited substances provisions as a means
of deterring illegal substance use.
Arbitration cost recovery. The Commission is responsible for
arbitration between licensees and managers or promoters when
contract disputes arise. The Commission absorbs costs related
to arbitration for contract disputes that it oversees that may
impede its ability to maintain a healthy fund balance. The
Commission utilizes the services of the Attorney General (AG) to
conduct arbitration proceedings and is then billed for these
services at a rate that is not feasible for the Commission to
pay on an ongoing basis. The Commission has exceeded its AG
expenditure authority yet has a statutory requirement to assist
fighters through this process. Based on a recommendation in the
Background Paper, this bill codifies the Commission's existing
authority to recognize and enforce contracts between boxers and
managers and between boxers and licensed clubs and extends those
provisions to include martial arts fighters. This bill also
clarifies that all disputes between the parties to the contract,
including the validity of the contract, shall be arbitrated by
the Commission pursuant to the provisions of the contract and
authorizes the Commission to seek cost recovery related to
arbitration proceedings.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
According to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations, this bill
will require an additional one-half position, at an annual cost
of $55,000 to implement new requirements. Based on an
assumption of 50 additional drug tests annually, the Committee
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estimated costs related to those provisions of this bill to be
around $60,000. The Committee noted that the Commission
anticipates minor annual cost recovery from arbitrations.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/31/15)
None received
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/31/15)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 8/31/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,
Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle,
Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo 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, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,
Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting,
Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
Prepared by:Sarah Mason / B., P. & E.D. / (916) 651-4104
8/31/15 18:03:11
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