BILL NUMBER: AB 2100 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 9, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Alejo
FEBRUARY 23, 2012
An act to amend Sections 18849, 18880, 18881, 18882,
18884, and 18887 of , and to add Section 18649 to, the
Business and Professions Code, relating to athletes, and making an
appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2100, as amended, Alejo. Athletes: mixed martial arts fighters.
Existing law, the State Athletic Commission Act, creates the
State Athletic Commission and makes it responsible for licensing and
regulating boxing, kickboxing, and martial arts matches and wrestling
exhibitions. Existing law prohibits a promoter from having a
proprietary interest in a boxer or mixed martial arts fighter without
the approval of the commission. Existing law creates the
continuously appropriated Boxers' Pension Fund and requires the
commission to establish a pension plan for boxers and to deposit the
moneys collected by the pension plan into the fund.
This bill would require a promoter to provide specified
written and sworn statements regarding his or her financial interests
to the commission before the promoter can receive compensation from
a boxing or mixed martial arts contest. By requiring a statement to
be made under penalty of perjury, the bill would expand that crime
and would thereby impose a state-mandated local program. The bill
would also require the commission to revoke or refuse to renew the
license of a mixed martial arts promoter who enters into a coercive
contract, as defined, with a mixed martial arts fighter, who has been
convicted of a felony or a gross misdemeanor, or who has been
subject to specified law enforcement actions, investigations, or
allegations. This bill would require the commission to establish a
professional code of conduct for licensees. This bill would also
extend the scope of the Boxers' Pension Plan to include
professional mixed martial arts fighters and would rename the
fund as the Boxers' and Mixed Martial Arts Fighters' Pension Fund
. By providing for new moneys to be deposited in a
continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 18649 is added to the
Business and Professions Code , to read:
18649. (a) The commission shall revoke or refuse to renew the
license of any mixed martial arts promoter that enters into a
contract with a mixed martial arts fighter in the state of California
if the contract contains one or more coercive provisions. A contract
provision shall be considered coercive to the extent that it does
any of the following:
(1) Assigns any future merchandising rights to a promoter beyond
the term of the promotional contract.
(2) Automatically renews the contract or extends the term without
good faith, arms-length negotiation.
(3) Grants the promoter a right to match the terms of a competing
offer or contract.
(4) Grants the promoter a right to enter into exclusive
negotiations with a mixed martial arts fighter.
(5) Restricts a mixed martial arts fighter from sponsoring another
firm, product, or individual.
(6) Requires a mixed martial arts fighter to relinquish any legal
claims for negligence that the fighter has, or may acquire in the
future, against the promoter.
(7) Restricts a mixed martial arts fighter from contracting with
another promoter.
(8) Requires a mixed martial arts fighter to forfeit any rights as
a condition precedent to the fighter's participation in a contest.
(b) The commission shall revoke or refuse to renew the license of
any promoter if it finds that the promoter, or any person or entity
that is a partner, agent, employee, stockholder, or associate of the
promoter, has been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor involving
moral turpitude in any jurisdiction; is currently the subject of a
state or federal criminal investigation; has been subject to a state
or federal tax lien within the past five years; has failed to respond
to a subpoena issued by any government agency; has been found to
have violated any local, state, or federal law; has been sanctioned
by a local, state, or federal judge; or has been credibly alleged to
have violated international human rights standards.
(c) To ensure that individuals and entities licensed under this
act observe common standards of decency, the commission shall, in
consultation with the Association of Boxing Commissioners, establish
a professional code of ethical conduct. Notwithstanding any other
provision of this code, the commission shall enforce the code of
ethical conduct.
SEC. 2. Section 18849 of the Business
and Professions Code is amended to read:
18849. No promoter, nor any person having a proprietary interest
in the promoter, shall have, either directly or indirectly, any
proprietary interest in a boxer or martial arts fighter competing on
the premises owned, leased, or rented by the promoter without written
approval from the commission. No promoter shall be entitled to
receive any compensation directly or indirectly in connection with a
contest until the promoter provides to the commission the following:
(a) A copy of any agreement in writing to which the promoter is a
party with any professional athlete or contestant licensed under this
act.
(b) A statement made under penalty of perjury that there are no
other agreements, written or oral, between the promoter and the
athlete with respect to that contest.
(c) All fees, charges, and expenses that will be assessed by or
through the promoter on the athlete participating in the event,
including any portion of the athlete's purse that the promoter will
receive.
(d) Any reduction in the athlete's purse contrary to a previous
agreement between the promoter and the athlete.
SEC. 3. Section 18880 of the Business
and Professions Code is amended to read:
18880. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) That professional athletes licensed under this chapter, as a
group, for many reasons, do not retain their earnings, and are often
injured or destitute, or both, and unable to take proper care of
themselves, whether financially or otherwise, and that the enactment
of this article is to serve a public purpose by making provisions for
a needy group to insure a modicum of financial security for
professional athletes.
(2) Athletes licensed under this chapter may suffer extraordinary
disabilities in the normal course of their trade. These may include
acute and chronic traumatic brain injuries, resulting from multiple
concussions as well as from repeated exposure to a large number of
subconcussive punches, eye injuries, including retinal tears, holes,
and detachments, and other neurological impairments.
(3) The pension plan of the commission is part of the state's
health and safety regulatory scheme, designed to protect boxers
and mixed martial arts fighters licensed under this chapter
from the health-related hazards of their trade. The pension plan
addresses those health and safety needs, recognizing the disability
and health maintenance expenses those needs may require.
(4) The regulatory system of California is interrelated with the
conduct of the trade in every jurisdiction. Athletes licensed under
this chapter participate in contests in other states and many
athletes who are based in those other jurisdictions may participate
in California on a single-event basis.
(5) The outcomes and natures of fights in other jurisdictions are
relevant to California regulatory jurisdiction and are routinely
monitored for health and safety reasons, so that, for example, a
knockout of an athlete licensed under this chapter in another
jurisdiction is paid appropriate heed with respect to establishing a
waiting period before that athlete may commence fighting in
California.
(6) The monitoring of other jurisdictions is an integral part of
the health and safety of California athletes licensed under this
chapter due to the interstate nature of the trade, and therefore the
regulatory scheme for contests and athletes under this chapter should
reflect this accordingly.
(7) Some mixed martial arts promoters licensed under this chapter
engage in certain exploitative, oppressive, and coercive contractual
practices that violate athletes' freedom to work and their ability to
support themselves and their families as professional athletes.
(8) It is necessary and appropriate to establish standards to
protect the rights and welfare of mixed martial arts fighters
licensed under this chapter from unscrupulous promoters and coercive
contractual practices.
(b) The provisions of this article pertain only to professional
boxers and mixed martial arts fighters licensed under this
chapter.
SECTION 1. SEC. 4. Section 18881 of
the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:
18881. (a) The commission shall, consistent with the purposes of
this article, establish a pension plan for professional boxers and
professional mixed martial arts fighters who engage in boxing or
mixed martial arts contests in this state.
(b) The commission shall, consistent with the purposes of this
article, establish the method by which the pension plan will be
financed, including those who shall contribute to the financing of
the pension plan. The method of financing the pension plan may
include, but is not limited to, assessments on tickets and
contributions by boxers, mixed martial arts fighters, managers,
promoters, or any one or more of these persons, in an amount
sufficient to finance the pension plan. Any promoter that
receives a fee for televising a boxing or mixed martial arts contest
performed in the State of California on a pay-per-view or network
telecast shall pay 5 percent of the gross receipts from the telecast,
exclusive of federal, state, or local taxes, into the Boxers' and
Mixed Martial Arts Fighters' Pension Fund. For purposes of this
section, the term "sufficient" means that the annual contributions
shall be calculated to achieve no less than the average level of
annual aggregate pension plan contributions from all sources for the
period from July 1, 1981, through December 31, 1994, and adjusted
thereafter to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index for
California as set forth by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
(c) Any pension plan established by the commission shall be
actuarially sound.
SEC. 2. SEC. 5. Section 18882 of the
Business and Professions Code is amended to read:
18882. (a) At the time of payment of the fee required by Section
18824, a promoter shall pay to the commission all amounts scheduled
for contribution to the pension plan. If the commission, in its
discretion, requires pursuant to Section 18881, that contributions to
the pension plan be made by the boxer or mixed martial arts fighter
and his or her manager, those contributions shall be made at the time
and in the manner prescribed by the commission.
(b) The Boxers' Pension Fund is hereby continued in existence
and renamed as the Boxers' and Mixed Marital Arts Fighters' Pension
Fund. All contributions to finance the pension plan shall be
deposited in the State Treasury and credited to the Boxers' and
Mixed Martial Arts Fighters ' Pension Fund
, which is hereby created . Notwithstanding the provisions
of Section 13340 of the Government Code, all moneys in the Boxers'
and Mixed Martial Arts Fighters' Pension Fund are hereby
continuously appropriated to be used exclusively for the purposes and
administration of the pension plan.
(c) The Boxers' and Mixed Martial Arts Fighters'
Pension Fund is a retirement fund, and no moneys within it shall be
deposited or transferred to the General Fund.
(d) The commission has exclusive control of all funds in the
Boxers' and Mixed Martial Arts Fighters' Pension Fund. No
transfer or disbursement in any amount from this fund shall be made
except upon the authorization of the commission and for the purpose
and administration of the pension plan.
(e) Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, the
commission or its designee shall invest the money contained in the
Boxers' and Mixed Martial Arts Fighters'
Pension Fund according to the same standard of care as provided in
Section 16040 of the Probate Code. The commission has exclusive
control over the investment of all moneys in the Boxers' and
Mixed Martial Arts Fighters' Pension Fund. Except as otherwise
prohibited or restricted by law, the commission may invest the moneys
in the fund through the purchase, holding, or sale of any
investment, financial instrument, or financial transaction that the
commission in its informed opinion determines is prudent.
(f) The administrative costs associated with investing, managing,
and distributing the Boxers' and Mixed Martial Arts Fighters'
Pension Fund shall be limited to no more than 20 percent of the
average annual contribution made to the fund in the previous two
years, not including any investment income derived from the corpus of
the fund. Diligence shall be exercised by administrators in order to
lower the fund's expense ratio as far below 20 percent as feasible
and appropriate. The commission shall report to the Joint Committee
on Boards, Commissions, and Consumer Protection on the impact of this
provision during the next regularly scheduled sunset review after
January 1, 2007.
SEC. 3. SEC. 6. Section 18884 of the
Business and Professions Code is amended to read:
18884. (a) A promoter may, but is not required to, add to the
price of each ticket sold for a professional boxing or
professional mixed martial arts contest, an amount specifically
designated on the ticket for contribution as a donation, either or
both, to the pension plan established pursuant to Section 18881. The
additional amount shall not be subject to the admissions tax required
by Section 18824 or any other deductions. Nothing in this section
shall authorize the addition of such amounts to less than all the
tickets sold for the professional boxing or professional
mixed martial arts contest involved. The promoter shall pay
additional contributions collected in accordance with Section 18881.
(b) Any additional contributions received pursuant to this section
shall not be considered to offset any of the contributions required
by the commission under Section 18881.
SEC. 4. SEC. 7. Section 18887 of the
Business and Professions Code is amended to read:
18887. In addition to any other form in which retirement benefits
may be distributed under the pension plan, the commission may, in
its discretion, award to a covered boxer or a covered
mixed martial arts fighter, a medical early retirement
benefit in the amount contained in the covered boxer's or
covered mixed martial arts fighter's pension plan account at
the time the commission makes this award and in the manner provided
in the regulations governing the boxers' and mixed martial arts
fighters' pension plan. This benefit shall be in lieu of a
pension.
SEC. 8. No reimbursement is required by this act
pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local
agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a
new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or
changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of
Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a
crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution.