BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1778
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1778 (Lieu)
As Amended May 13, 2010
Majority vote
ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT, SPORTS 5-0APPROPRIATIONS 11-5
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|Ayes:|Davis, Blumenfield, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Hill, Bradford, |
| |Charles Calderon, De | |Charles Calderon, Coto, |
| |Leon, Monning | |Davis, Hall, Skinner, |
| | | |Solorio, Torlakson, |
| | | |Torrico |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | |Nays:|Conway, Harkey, Miller, |
| | | |Nielsen, Norby |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires state promotional commercials to be filmed
in California. Specifically, this bill provides that any
department, commission, office, agency, or other administrative
entity of the state that produces, or contracts for the
production of, a promotional commercial for the state or a
product of the state, and finances that commercial in whole or
in part with public funds, shall require that commercial be
filmed in this state. An exception would be made for any
agreement between a state entity and a private entity to promote
a California product, as specified.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Contains the California Tourism Marketing Act (CTMA) and
creates the California Division of Tourism in the Business,
Transportation and Housing Agency (BTHA) to promote travel and
tourism to and within California.
The CTMA further establishes the California Travel and Tourism
Commission (CTTC), a separate, independent, non-profit
corporation, and authorizes the CTTC to levy assessments on
specified businesses which benefit from travel and tourism
spending, according to referendum of the assessed businesses
for the purpose of producing a variety of marketing
activities, including: advertising; visitor publications; and
AB 1778
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cooperative programs.
2)Contains The California Marketing Act, the purpose of which
is, in part, to enable producers of this state, with the aid
of the state, to correlate more effectively the marketing of
their commodities with market demands for those commodities.
These marketing efforts are funded by the levying and
collection of assessments.
3)Contains a public and private collaboration known as the "Buy
California Program." The purposes of the program are to
encourage consumer nutritional and food awareness and to
foster purchases of high-quality California agricultural
products.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, increased costs, to the extent filming in California
is more costly than filming that would otherwise be done outside
the state. Such costs are likely to be minor from any one fund
in any fiscal year.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "The purpose of this bill is
to ensure that all commercials made on behalf of the State of
California, and paid for with state funds, are actually filmed
in California. When California taxpayers finance the filming of
a commercial that promotes California or its products, they
expect the money will be spent in California, using the talents
of California workers to support our economy. This is
particularly important because California is in the midst of the
worst recession since the Great Depression.
Background: Happy Cows Come From New Zealand? : According to
the author, one of the reasons for this bill is that the
California Milk Advisory Board recently brought a production
crew to Auckland, New Zealand to shoot a series of 10
commercials claiming that California cows are happier. "The
Board stated that this particular filming was a 'minor portion
of production' and that any cows identified as Californian in
the ads will be actual California cows." The Board further said
that in this particular case, "They were not actually shooting
Happy California Cows commercials in New Zealand; they were
shooting unhappy cows from all over the world auditioning to
become California cows. Regardless, it makes sense to clarify
in the law that an ad promoting a California product should
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actually be filmed in the State of California." In a recent LA
Times article, the Milk board defended its actions based upon
the economics of filming in New Zealand, saying, "We have a
fiduciary responsibility to spend their (the dairy industry)
hard earned dollars as efficiently as we can. In this particular
case, we found significant cost savings by shooting a portion of
this product overseas."
State Programs Which Appear to be Covered Under AB 1778 : The
language of this bill would require, "any department,
commission, office, agency, or other administrative entity of
the state that produces, or contracts for the production of, a
promotional commercial for the state or a product of the state,
and finances that commercial in whole or in part with public
funds, shall require that commercial to be filmed in this
state." While this language may at first glance seem quite
broad, this analyst could only find two programs operating in
the state which clearly fall under its terms, the California
Tourism Marketing Act, and Department of Food and Agriculture
Buy California Campaign.
Appropriations Committee amendments . This bill was amended in
Appropriations Committee to provide an exception for any
agreement between a state entity and a private entity to feature
or otherwise promote a California product in a program that is
made by a private entity and featuring or promoting the product
is not the primary purpose of the program.
Please see the policy committee analysis for full discussion of
this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Dana Mitchell / A.,E.,S.,T. & I.M. /
(916) 319-3450
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