BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 2654
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 21, 2010

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                 AB 2654 (Hill) - As Introduced:  February 19, 2010 

          Policy Committee:                              B, P, and  
          C.P.Vote:    7 - 2 

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          Yes    Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires that a business that solicits the purchase  
          of, or payment for, a service by means of an unsolicited mailing  
          offering to assist the recipient in dealing with a state or  
          local governmental agency must disclose conspicuously on the top  
          of the first page of a mailing that the business is not a  
          governmental agency and is not associated with the governmental  
          agency referenced.  A violation of these or other provisions  
          related to advertising is a crime.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Potential minor nonreimbursable costs to counties for  
          prosecution and incarceration related to violations of the  
          bill's provisions, offset to some extent by fine revenues. (The  
          bill expands provisions of current law, the violation of which  
          is a misdemeanor.)

           COMMENTS  

           Purpose  .  AB 2919 (Garcia; Chapter 256, Statutes of 2008)  
          requires a business that solicits the purchase of, or payment  
          for, a service by means of an unsolicited mailing offering to  
          assist the recipient in dealing with a state or local  
          governmental agency to state on the envelope and in the mailing  
          that the business is not a governmental agency and is not  
          associated with the governmental agency, and to include in the  
          mailing the contact information for the governmental agency.

          The author's office asserts that some solicitors are following  
          the letter of the law by including this disclosure statement,  








                                                                  AB 2654
                                                                  Page  2

          but bury it deep in the communication so that it is not  
          immediately obvious to recipients.  This bill would require such  
          solicitations to present their nature at the top of the first  
          page of their mailing, as is customarily done with full-page  
          advertisements in magazines and newspapers, which are clearly  
          labeled "advertisement."  

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081