Two pieces of legislation regarding fairs/fairgrounds recently received the attention of the State Legislature. First is Assembly Bill 2678, authored by Assembly Member Adam Gray (D-Merced), which gained passage in the Senate Governance & Finance Committee last week. The second is Assembly Concurrent Resolution 186, authored by Assemblyman Frank Bigelow (R-Madera), which declares June 2016 as Fair Appreciation Month.
Several weeks ago, AB 2678 secured passage in the State Assembly with strong bipartisan support. The bill would dedicate the State portion of the sales and use tax collected from transactions at fairgrounds to support small and medium sized fairs, thus providing a stable source of revenue to help ensure the long-term viability for the network of fairs. Strongly supported by RCRC, AB 2678 will be reviewed in the Senate Appropriations Committee in August. The text of AB 2678 can be accessed here.
ACR 18 declared June 2016 as Fair Appreciation Month. The text of ACR 18 can be accessed here. RCRC strongly supported this effort to remind policymakers of the importance of fairs and fairgrounds as a key public asset to utilize in the case of wildfires and disaster management.