BILL NUMBER:  AB 223
  VETOED	DATE: 09/30/2010




To the Members of the California State Assembly:

I am returning Assembly Bill (AB) 223 without my signature.

It is a common complaint within the business community that
"overregulation" is driving businesses out of California.  Look no
further than AB 223 for such an example.  This bill, among other
things, tells tattoo artists how to wash their hands (use running
water, lather hands with soap for at least 15 seconds, dry using a
single-use towel, and turn off the tap using the towel or elbow or
foot-pedal); instructs tattoo artists to clean the procedure site
using a circular motion (the bill does not appear to authorize a
back-and-forth or up-and-down motion); tattoo artists are also told
they to need to answer questions regarding the procedure site
(assuming this is to answer a question from a client, but this detail
has been left strangely vague in the bill); and, of course, tattoo
facilities must have washable walls, be equipped with waste
containers lined with plastic bags specifically manufactured for use
in waste containers and large enough to fold over the top rim of the
waste container by a minimum (!) of one inch, and have light sources
of at least 150 foot candles of light at the procedure area.  Of
course, this bill also authorizes no less than 3 new fees to fund
this new regulatory oversight.

I realize this issue may be important to few, but it is not
appropriate to tell tattoo artists through the statute how to wash
their hands and fold their trashbags one inch over the rim of a
trashcan.  If the sponsors wanted a bill that addressed the purported
problem, a simple statutory authorization for the Department of
Public Health to promulgate standardized regulations would have been
acceptable.

Sincerely,



Arnold Schwarzenegger