SACRAMENTO, Calif. — AB 1576, a bill that would mandate condom use on all adult productions shot in California, passed the full California Assembly today with a vote of 45-14.
Terry Schanz, the press secretary for the bill’s sponsor, Assemblyman Isadore Hall, confirmed the news to XBIZ and explained that while the original vote announced by Hall via Twitter was 41-12, “Members are able to add on if a bill has already been passed.”
Forty-one votes was the bare minimum needed to approve the bill.
Several Assembly members from the Los Angeles area, where the adult industry is centered, abstained. Twenty-one members in total did not cast a vote.
"We're disappointed, but we're not surprised," FSC CEO Diane Duke told XBIZ. "For anyone not familiar with the adult industry, including most legislators, the bill seems like a no-nonsense provision that would protect performers. Unfortunately, it threatens to harm the very performers it seeks to protect."
"This is why over five hundred performers have spoken out against the bill, and why groups like the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee, the Harvey Milk Democratic Club and the Transgender Law Center," Duke added. "The real goal of the bill is to push adult production out of California by manufacturing a crisis. It makes for great headlines, but dangerous public policy. We're incredibly concerned."
Hall also responded to the news,"Today’s passage of AB 1576 was a strong reaffirmation of the California Legislature’s commitment to protect workers in the state, regardless of the type of work performed," he said in a statement. "For too long, the adult film industry has thrived on a business model that exploits its workers and puts profit over workplace safety. The fact is, adult film actors are employees, like any other employee for any other business in the state. A minimum level of safety in the workplace should not have to be negotiated.”
“We need to begin to treat the adult film industry just like any other legitimate, legal business in California,” Hall continued. “Legitimate businesses protect their employees from injury in the workplace. This legitimate, legal business should be treated no differently. Whether you work in agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare, food service, public safety or any other industry, all workers deserve a safe place to make a living.”
Last Wednesday the bill cleared the California Appropriations Committee, which is tasked to allocate annual funds to state government agencies.
The committee was given a report that estimated special fund costs of up to $150,000 to the Cal/OSHA Standards Board for additional rulemaking for AB 1576 — a figure hotly disputed by the opposition.
AB 1576 will now move on to the State Senate for further action.
