AB 2441 moves into its first committee hearing

April 16, 2012 |
Valor

From L-R: Dr. Richard McCleary, CALCASA Executive Director Sandra Henriquez, and Asm. Das Williams

Today, AB 2441 (Williams) was heard on the floor of the Assembly Revenue & Taxation Committee. During the hearing, CALCASA’s Executive Director Sandra Henriquez provided a testimony along with Assemblymember Williams. Williams provided an overview of the legislation and I gave information about sexual assault, and statistics for the state of California.
Two witnesses presented in support of AB 2441, including Dr. Richard McCleary who is a professor at the University of California, Irvine who studies the secondary impacts of sexually oriented businesses. His experience with adult entertainment businesses in California began in the late 1980s with a study that found neighborhood crime rates rose whenever an adult business opened. Furthermore, the study found that the effect was aggravated by proximity to a bar or tavern. He testified that AB 2441, which only affects live adult entertainment businesses that serve alcohol, assumes that the businesses’ activities play a causal role in the victimization risk and that the organizations’ activities can mitigate the risk.
Additionally, a survivor of sexual assault spoke during the committee hearing. She said that she will never forget the advocate who met her at the hospital and how valuable the services were that she received from her local rape crisis center.
In the legislation analysis of AB 2441 (available here), there are 116 listed supporters and three businesses in opposition.
The Committee did not vote on the issue today, moving to vote on the issue to Monday, April 23. We are hopeful that AB 2441 will pass through the Rev & Tax Committee, and continue to progress through the legislative process into the Appropriations Committee.
Again, thank you for your support thus far — we’ll continue to need letters, calls and efforts in the coming weeks! Please contact Alexis Marbach, Public Policy Advocate at alexis@calcasa.org to learn how to get more involved.