18600-18618

BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE
SECTION 18600-18618




18600.  This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Boxing
Act or the State Athletic Commission Act.
   Whenever a reference is made to the Boxing Act or the State
Athletic Commission Act by the provisions of any statute, it is to be
construed as referring to the provisions of this chapter.



18601.  The Legislature may amend, revise, or supplement any part of
this chapter.



18602.  (a) Except as provided in this section, there is in the
Department of Consumer Affairs the State Athletic Commission, which
consists of seven members. Five members shall be appointed by the
Governor, one member shall be appointed by the Senate Rules
Committee, and one member shall be appointed by the Speaker of the
Assembly.
   The members of the commission appointed by the Governor are
subject to confirmation by the Senate pursuant to Section 1322 of the
Government Code.
   No person who is currently licensed, or who was licensed within
the last two years, under this chapter may be appointed or
reappointed to, or serve on, the commission.
   (b) In appointing commissioners under this section, the Governor,
the Senate Rules Committee, and the Speaker of the Assembly shall
make every effort to ensure that at least four of the members of the
commission shall have experience and demonstrate expertise in one of
the following areas:
   (1) A licensed physician or surgeon having expertise or
specializing in neurology, neurosurgery, head trauma, or sports
medicine. Sports medicine includes, but is not limited to,
physiology, kinesiology, or other aspects of sports medicine.
   (2) Financial management.
   (3) Public safety.
   (4) Past experience in the activity regulated by this chapter,
either as a contestant, a referee or official, a promoter, or a venue
operator.
   (c) Each member of the commission shall be appointed for a term of
four years. All terms shall end on January 1. Vacancies occurring
prior to the expiration of the term shall be filled by appointment
for the unexpired term. No commission member may serve more than two
consecutive terms.
   (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, members
first appointed shall be subject to the following terms:
   (1) The Governor shall appoint two members for two years, two
members for three years, and one member for four years.
   (2) The Senate Committee on Rules shall appoint one member for
four years.
   (3) The Speaker of the Assembly shall appoint one member for four
years.
   (e) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2012, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2012, deletes or extends
that date.
   The repeal of this section renders the commission subject to the
review required by Division 1.2 (commencing with Section 473).




18602.1.  Protection of the public shall be the highest priority for
the State Athletic Commission in exercising its licensing,
regulatory, and disciplinary functions. Whenever the protection of
the public is inconsistent with other interests sought to be
promoted, the protection of the public shall be paramount.



18602.5.  (a) The commission shall adopt and submit a strategic plan
to the Governor and the Legislature on or before September 30, 2008.
The commission shall also submit a report to the Governor and the
Legislature on the status of the adoption of the strategic plan
during the commission's next regularly scheduled sunset review after
January 1, 2007. The strategic plan shall include, but shall not be
limited to, efforts to resolve prior State Athletic Commission
deficiencies in the following areas:
   (1) Regulation of the profession, what fees should be paid for
this regulation, and the structure and equity of the fees charged.
   (2) The effect and appropriateness of contracts made pursuant to
Section 18828.
   (3) Costs to train ringside physicians, referees, timekeepers, and
judges.
   (4) Steps that need to be taken to ensure sufficient sources of
revenue and funding.
   (5) Necessity for review and modification of organizational
procedures, the licensing process, and the complaint process.
   (6) Outdated information technology.
   (7) Unorganized and improper accounting.
   (8) Miscalculations at events, a lack of technology to record
proper calculations, and funding issues.
   (9) The health and safety of the participants and the public in
attendance at events regulated under this chapter, including costs of
examinations under Section 18711.
   (b) The commission shall solicit input from the public, the State
Auditor, the Little Hoover Commission, the Center for Public Interest
Law, and others as necessary in preparing and adopting the strategic
plan.
   (c) The commission shall report on progress in implementing the
strategic plan to the Director of Consumer Affairs, the Governor, and
the Legislature on or before September 30, 2009.



18604.  The appointing authority may remove any member of the
commission for causes specified in Section 106.



18605.  A majority of the appointed members of the commission
constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The affirmative
vote of a majority of those commissioners present at a meeting of the
commission constituting at least a quorum is necessary to render a
decision or pass a motion.



18606.  The members of the commission shall elect one of their
number as the chair and another member as the vice-chair. The chair
and vice-chair shall be elected at the first meeting of each calendar
year or when a vacancy exists.


18607.  Each member of the commission shall receive a per diem and
necessary travel expenses as provided in Section 103.



18608.  The commission is subject to all of the provisions of
Division 1 (commencing with Section 100) and for the purposes of that
division shall be deemed to be a board, except for the purposes of
Section 102 the commission shall not be deemed to be a board created
by an initiative act.



18610.  The commission shall adopt a seal.



18611.  The commission shall adopt, amend, or repeal, in accordance
with the Administrative Procedure Act, rules and regulations as may
be necessary to enable it to carry out the laws relating to boxing
and the martial arts.


18613.  (a) (1) The commission shall appoint a person exempt from
civil service who shall be designated as an executive officer and who
shall exercise the powers and perform the duties delegated by the
commission and vested in him or her by this chapter. The appointment
of the executive officer is subject to the approval of the Director
of Consumer Affairs.
   (2) The commission may employ in accordance with Section 154 other
personnel as may be necessary for the administration of this
chapter.
   (b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2012, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2012, deletes or extends
that date.


18615.  No inspector shall be assigned to regulate an event under
the authority or jurisdiction of the commission, who, within the
preceding six months, has not participated in an inspectors' clinic
or received formal training, at which the laws and rules of the
commission and related problems have been discussed. The commission
is authorized to pay the necessary traveling expenses of an inspector
while in attendance at the clinic or formal training.



18618.  The commission shall furnish to the Governor and the
Legislature a report, on or before July 30, 2010, on the following:
   (a) The condition of the State Athletic Commission Neurological
Examination Account. This report shall include the amount of the
assessment collected from each promoter pursuant to Section 18711,
the purposes for which moneys in the account are expended, and
findings and recommendations on the amounts, appropriateness, and
effectiveness of these assessments. The report shall also include a
recommendation on the viability and need for creating a medical
database that would be used for identifying trends in medical records
and data associated with injuries and deaths related to competing.
   (b) The condition of the Boxers' Pension Fund. This report shall
include a recommendation on whether the fund should be continued and,
if so, whether it should be expanded to include all athletes
licensed under this chapter and appropriate fees paid into the fund.