Title
Supervisor Parlin recommending the Board authorize the Chair to sign a letter of support to the Fairs and Expositions Branch Chief, John Quiroz, for the Fair Allocation Rulemaking, including comments on its disbursement per Assembly Bill 1499.
Body
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
Summary
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has initiated long-awaited
rulemaking to distribute a share (three-quarters of 1 percent) of the state’s portion of sales and use tax revenues from transactions made at fairgrounds to Fair Boards to support the operations and maintenance of fairgrounds.
Background
Under Assembly Bill 1499 (Gray; 2017), fairs-and their lessees-must comply with
specific working conditions for non-management employees in order to be qualified to
receive “Fair Allocation Funding,” including meal breaks and eight-hour work days with
overtime pay for excess hours worked. Assembly Bill 635 (Bigelow; 2019) clarified these
non-management employees were exempt from specified working conditions if they are
covered by a collective bargaining agreement.
Prior to 2009-10, fairs received state support primarily from horse race wagering proceeds. In 2009, the state supplanted horse race wagering with General Fund support. The 2011-12 State Budget eliminated the $32 million General Fund for the support of fairs. Subsequent State Budget Packages did not replace the funding for fairs until the 2015-16 State Budget Package, which provided a modest $3.1 million to improve the financial situation of smaller fairs.
AB 1499, which Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) fully supported, was a significant step in assuring the long-term viability of the network of fairs and fairgrounds. In 2019-20, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) reported that $18.637 million has been collected and distributed to the Fairs and Exposition Fund. However, until CDFA adopts rules on how to allocate these revenues, these monies will not be d...
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