AB 1136: State Athletic Commission: mixed martial arts: retirement benefit.

Existing law, the Boxing Act, also known as the State Athletic Commission Act, creates within the Department of Consumer Affairs the State Athletic Commission. Under existing law, the commission has sole direction, management, control of, and jurisdiction over all professional and amateur boxing and kickboxing, all forms and combinations of full contact martial arts contests, including mixed martial arts, and matches or exhibits conducted, held, or given within California. Existing law authorizes the commission to license professional and amateur boxers, professional and amateur martial arts fighters, booking agents, managers of professional boxers and professional martial arts fighters, trainers, chief seconds, and seconds of each. Existing law prohibits a person from participating in any contest, or serving in the capacity of a booking agent, manager, trainer, or second, unless the person has been licensed for that purpose by the commission.

Existing law establishes the Boxers Pension Fund, a retirement fund under the exclusive control of the commission, that is funded by an assessment on tickets that is transferred to the commission following a contest or wrestling exhibition, as prescribed, and by contributions by boxers, managers, promoters, or any one or more of these persons. Existing law requires all moneys in the Boxers Pension Fund to be continuously appropriated to be used exclusively for the purposes and administration of the pension fund. Existing law prohibits any moneys with the Boxers Pension Fund from being deposited or transferred to the general fund.

This bill would, among other things, require the commission to establish the Mixed Martial Arts Retirement Benefit Fund (MMA Fund) and would continuously appropriate the moneys in the MMA Fund to be used exclusively for the purposes and administration of the MMA Fund. The bill would require the commission to establish a method for financing the MMA Fund, including by a specified assessment on tickets to events under the commissions jurisdiction, by revenue generated through the sale of special interest license plates and other commission-branded items, including, but not limited to, sport paraphernalia and souvenirs, and by contributions from mixed martial artists, managers, promoters, or any one or more of these persons. The bill would require a participating martial artist, as defined, to become vested in the amount credited to the participating martial artists regular account in the MMA Fund when the participating martial artist has fought in at least 39 scheduled rounds in a commission-sanctioned professional mixed martial art contest held in the state and would prohibit a participating martial artist from being entitled to distribution of the funds held in the participating martial artists regular account until the participating martial artist is at least 50 years of age. The bill would require contributions to finance the MMA Fund to be allocated to each participating martial artists regular account on the last day of the MMA Fund year, as specified. The bill would authorize the commission to award an early retirement benefit to a participating martial artist, who has vested in the MMA Fund but is younger than 50 years of age, for vocational, education, training, or medical need in the amount contained in the participating martial artists regular account, as specified. The bill would require information submitted by or to a participating martial artist pursuant to that early retirement benefit provision to be confidential and not subject to public disclosure unless, among other things, the participating martial artist, in writing, waives the confidentiality of information submitted to the commission. The bill would also authorize a participating martial artist to designate one or more beneficiaries of the martial artists benefits from the MMA Fund upon the death of the participating martial artist, as prescribed. The bill would require a form submitted by a participating martial artist to the commission or its designee pursuant to that provision, including a beneficiary designation, to be confidential and not subject to public disclosure, except as specified.

This bill would require the commission to notify any participating martial artist eligible to receive benefits from the MMA Fund of certain information when the right to receive those benefits vests in that martial artist, including the date upon which the martial artist will first be able to claim benefits from the MMA Fund or will first be able to convert all, or a portion of, those benefits to an early medical or early vocational retirement benefit.

This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of ²/₃ of the membership of each house of the Legislature.

Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.