According to Mike Ross there's some current legislative positions/information quite useful to the industry.
AB's 358 & 484 Provide Industry Tax Credits. Assemblymembers Wildman and Kuehl are issuing a call to save entertainment jobs in CA, and we're in luck. Why? Simple, the two Bills working their way through our legislature are designed to save jobs and point to the fact that movie production in off studio lots in LA county were down 21% in the first quarter of 1999 compared with 1998. Additionally, shoots in March were down 27%.
Between 96/97, California has lost thousands of jobs and an estimated $1.2 billion due to these "runaway productions." To correct the problem, the members have introduced AB's 358 and 484, both of which provide tax incentives for CA production companies to film at home, helping to keep jobs in the Golden State. For the industry, that will result in a 10% tax credit, per Movie, TV or Entertainment film video or audio show produced in the state. We have promised to work on your behalf to bring you tax credits, and this is the second and third bills that we have identified that will do the trick.
In an effort to correct initial defects found in AB 1446's first draft, last week Marla Green and I submitted proposed amendments to AB 1446. In general, constructing a solution to the Independent Contractor problem, is difficult, and in this case is extremely controversial because change can only come because of consensus, meaning that the Bill can only be corrected one step at a time. The first step came when the bill was introduced and clearly the game's hardest step. The next step in the process is getting legislators to support and vote yes on a Bill that's pro-industry!
To do so, we took a middle step, and created a situation where legislators can beat us up and look good, while allowing us to make amendments that will keep us "neutral." To do so, we started with a Spot Bill that simply outlawed an employer's ability to require an employee to "strip." Since the Spot Bill just reserved a "spot" in the process to discuss the subject, the author's office, Marla and I continued to discuss language, and last week a "meetings of the minds" occurred between us and the legislative counsel whom we submitted the proposal to.
Currently, I believe that the next step is to hear what you have to say before we go the rest of the way. Tentatively, the Bill in the box below is set for a hearing on 5/5/99. If you would like full a copy of the Bill, complete with our language, please visit our website located at www.xxxadvocate.com/letserve/ or call us at (916) 456-7311 and ask us to fax one to you.
Suggested Amendments For AB 1446. Amendment: It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act to clarify status, rights and obligations, with respect to payment of taxes and other matters, for persons providing live entertainment in business establishments and with respect to minors providing live entertainment in business establishments that are subject to minimum-age requirements.
Amendment: Section 2. Section 2753 is added to the Labor Code, to read: 2753
(a) For purposes of this division and part 4 (commencing with Section 1171) of Division 2, there is a conclusive presumption that a person is working as an independent contractor and not an employee if all of the following conditions exist:
(1) A contract is voluntarily executed between the parties that acknowledges the status of the person as an independent contractor, states that the person is not entitled to the payment of any wages, and contains provisions limited the term of the contract to a definite period of time.
(2) The person performs services of an artistic nature, such as acting, singing or dancing.
(3) The person possesses a business license to perform those services, if required by any governmental entity.
(4) The person is not required to pay any owner or operator of a business establishment any amounts received by the person as tips or other gratuities directly from the patrons, guests or members of the business establishment.
(b) Whenever a business establishment imposes a minimum age requirement for performing artistic services in the business establishment, nothing in this section or any other law prevents the business establishment from requiring either an independent contractor or an employee to provide identification showing his or her age before performing services of an artistic nature in the business establishment.
SB 1165 To Be Heard 4/27/99 \n Prompt Judicial Review Process \n Based On Baby Tam Proposed
About 4 short months ago, the cabaret industry won a major court ruling regarding adult entertainment licensing stemming from several "prompt judicial review questions" raised in the Baby Tam case as it impacts first amendment free speech.
In a nutshell, existing law provides for judicial review of decisions by a local public agency regarding the issuance, revocation, suspension, or denial of a business permit. In the summer of '98, a Nevada Court Ruled [Baby Tam] that permits processes for constitutionally protected forms of speech, must have some type of "prompt judicial review process established"when permits are denied, and that since there are none established, the law's unconstitutional.
In California, this was tested by DeJa Vu and Sacramento attorney George Mull, who in December, won a series of rulings against the City of Citrus Heights. The City, who "lost to a strip club," immediately started working with legislators to fashion a solution, and SB 1165 is that proposed solution.
Specifically, SB 1165, as amended by Senator Sher, established a "Expedited Judicial Review Process," and as such, enacts an expedited judicial review process for decisions made by a local public agency regarding the issuance, revocation, suspension, or denial of a business permit involving expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution, as specified.
The issues are very complex, and John Weston is helping me with this project and as such, we have taken an opposed position to the Bill. [It's not formal - doing so will give legislators one more reason to support the Bill]. We are working with legislative staff to make the appropriate amendments. We will also be testifying when the bill is heard in committee. If you'd like a copy of the bill, call.
