Article 4. Commission of California Government Code >> Division 3. >> Title 2. >> Part 4.7. >> Chapter 1. >> Article 4.

(a) Upon approval of the initial referendum, the office shall establish a nonprofit mutual benefit corporation named the California Travel and Tourism Commission. The commission shall be under the direction of a board of commissioners, which shall function as the board of directors for purposes of the Nonprofit Corporation Law.
  (b) The board of commissioners shall consist of 37 commissioners comprising the following:
  (1) The director, who shall serve as chairperson.
  (2) (A) Twelve members, who are professionally active in the tourism industry, and whose primary business, trade, or profession is directly related to the tourism industry, shall be appointed by the Governor. Each appointed commissioner shall represent only one of the 12 tourism regions designated by the office, and the appointed commissioners shall be selected so as to represent, to the greatest extent possible, the diverse elements of the tourism industry. Appointed commissioners are not limited to individuals who are employed by or represent assessed businesses.
  (B) If an appointed commissioner ceases to be professionally active in the tourism industry or his or her primary business, trade, or profession ceases to be directly related to the tourism industry, he or she shall automatically cease to be an appointed commissioner 90 days following the date on which he or she ceases to meet both of the eligibility criteria specified in subparagraph (A), unless the commissioner becomes eligible again within that 90-day period.
  (3) Twenty-four elected commissioners, including at least one representative of a travel agency or tour operator that is an assessed business.
  (c) The commission established pursuant to Section 15364.52 shall be inoperative so long as the commission established pursuant to this section is in existence.
  (d) Elected commissioners shall be elected by industry category in a referendum. Regardless of the number of ballots received for a referendum, the nominee for each commissioner slot with the most weighted votes from assessed businesses within that industry category shall be elected commissioner. In the event that an elected commissioner resigns, dies, or is removed from office during his or her term, the commission shall appoint a replacement from the same industry category that the commissioner in question represented, and that commissioner shall fill the remaining term of the commissioner in question. The number of commissioners elected from each industry category shall be determined by the weighted percentage of assessments from that category.
  (e) The director may remove any elected commissioner following a hearing at which the commissioner is found guilty of abuse of office or moral turpitude.
  (f) (1) The term of each elected commissioner shall commence July 1 of the year next following his or her election, and shall expire on June 30 of the fourth year following his or her election. If an elected commissioner ceases to be employed by or with an assessed business in the category and segment which he or she was representing, his or her term as an elected commissioner shall automatically terminate 90 days following the date on which he or she ceases to be so employed, unless, within that 90-day period, the commissioner again is employed by or with an assessed business in the same category and segment.
  (2) Terms of elected commissioners that would otherwise expire effective December 31 of the year during which legislation adding this subdivision is enacted shall automatically be extended until June 30 of the following year.
  (g) With the exception of the director, no commissioner shall serve for more than two consecutive terms. For purposes of this subdivision, the phrase "two consecutive terms" shall not include partial terms.
  (h) Except for the original commissioners, all commissioners shall serve four-year terms. One-half of the commissioners originally appointed or elected shall serve a two-year term, while the remainder shall serve a four-year term. Every two years thereafter, one-half of the commissioners shall be appointed or elected by referendum.
  (i) The selection committee shall determine the initial slate of candidates for elected commissioners. Thereafter the commissioners, by adopted resolution, shall nominate a slate of candidates, and shall include any additional candidates complying with the procedure described in Section 13995.62.
  (j) The commissioners shall elect a vice chairperson from the elected commissioners.
  (k) The commission may lease space from the office.
  (l) The commission and the office shall be the official state representatives of California tourism.
  (m) (1) All commission meetings shall be held in California.
  (2) Commissioners may participate in meetings by means of conference telephone and other technology.
  (n) No person shall receive compensation for serving as a commissioner, but each commissioner shall receive reimbursement for reasonable expenses incurred while on authorized commission business.
  (o) Assessed businesses shall vote only for commissioners representing their industry category.
  (p) Commissioners shall comply with the requirements of the Political Reform Act of 1974 (Title 9 (commencing with Section 81000)). The Legislature finds and declares that commissioners appointed or elected on the basis of membership in a particular tourism segment are appointed or elected to represent and serve the economic interests of those tourism segments and that the economic interests of these members are the same as those of the public generally.
  (q) Commission meetings shall be subject to the requirements of the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1).
  (r) The executive director of the commission shall serve as secretary to the commission, a nonvoting position, and shall keep the minutes and records of all commission meetings.

Notwithstanding subdivision (d) of Section 13995.40, the number of commissioners elected from each industry category shall be determined by the weighted percentage of assessments from that category, except that no more than six commissioners shall be elected from the passenger car rental category.

The purpose of the commission is to increase the number of persons traveling to and within California.

(a) The commission is a separate, independent California nonprofit mutual benefit corporation. Except as provided in Section 13995.43, the staff of the commission shall be employees solely of the commission, and the procedures adopted by the commission shall not be subject to the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1).
  (b) Not later than six months following the initial referendum, the commission shall adopt procedures concerning the operation of the commission in order to provide due process rights for assessed businesses.
  (c) In the event that the commission fails to adopt the procedures described in subdivision (b) within the specified timeframe, the director shall adopt procedures for use by the commission until the commission adopts its own procedures. These procedures shall be exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1), whether adopted by the commission or director.

(a) The commission shall be administered by an executive director. That individual shall be a tourism industry marketing professional, recommended by a vote of the commissioners and approved by the Governor. The executive director shall serve at the pleasure of both the commissioners and the Governor.
  (b) The executive director shall report to and receive overall guidance from the commission, and shall implement the commission's tourism marketing plan. The executive director shall report to the director for day-to-day managerial and financial responsibilities.
  (c) The executive director shall serve as the director of the office and shall be an exempt employee, employed by the state. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the executive director may supervise both employees of the commission and employees of the office, notwithstanding the fact that the commission employees are employees solely of the commission.
  (d) The salary and benefits of the executive director shall be determined by the commission, and approved by the director, based upon industry standards for a director of a marketing budget of similar size. The entire salary and all benefits of the executive director shall be paid from assessments.

(a) (1) The commission shall annually provide to all assessed businesses a report on the activities and budget of the commission including, but not limited to, income and expenses, the fund balance, a summary of the tourism marketing plan, and a report of progress in achieving the goals set forth in the plan. The portions of the report that pertain to the commission's income and expenses and the fund balance, as well as those other portions that the commission may from time to time deem appropriate, shall be audited by independent accountants retained by the commission for this purpose.
  (2) The commission's annual budget shall be subject to the review and approval of the director. However, any decision of the director related to the budget may be overridden by a vote of three-fifths or more of the commissioners then in office.
  (b) The commission shall maintain a report on the percentage assessment allocation between industry categories and industry segments. The report shall also specify the reasons and methodology used for the allocations. This report shall be updated every time the assessment allocations are amended. The report shall be made available to any assessed business.

(a) The commission shall annually prepare, or cause to be prepared, a written marketing plan. In developing the plan, the commission shall utilize, as appropriate, the advice and recommendations of the industry marketing advisory committee or committees established pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 13995.47. The commission may amend the plan at any commission meeting. All expenditures by the commission shall be consistent with the marketing plan.
  (b) The plan shall promote travel to and within California, and shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
  (1) An evaluation of the previous year's budget and activities.
  (2) Review of California tourism trends, conditions, and opportunities.
  (3) Target audiences for tourism marketing expenditures.
  (4) Marketing strategies, objectives, and targets.
  (5) Budget for the current year.
  (c) Before final adoption of the plan, the commission shall provide each known destination marketing organization in California notice of the availability of the proposed marketing plan and suitable opportunity, which may include public meetings, to review the plan and to comment upon it. The commission shall take into consideration any recommendations submitted by the destination marketing organizations, except that the final determination as to the nature, extent, and substance of the plan shall in all respects rest solely within the ultimate discretion of the commission, except as provided in subdivision (d).
  (d) The final adoption of the plan shall be subject to the review and approval of the director. However, any decision of the director related to the plan may be overridden by a vote of three-fifths or more of the commissioners then in office.

Commissioners and employees of the commission are not responsible individually in any way whatsoever to any person for liability for any good faith activity of the commission.

(a) The commission shall establish one or more industry marketing advisory committees, which may include noncommissioners as members. The industry marketing advisory committees shall be structured so that, in the aggregate, they include, to the maximum extent feasible and reasonable, representation from every geographic region of the state and every segment of the state's travel and tourism industry. The commission shall establish procedures for the operation of the industry marketing advisory committees that will provide appropriate opportunity for every geographic region of the state and every segment of the travel and tourism industry to offer advice and recommendations to the commission relative to the development of its written marketing plan pursuant to Section 13995.45.
  (b) The commission may also establish from time to time any other committees it deems appropriate, and may appoint noncommissioners to the committees.

If the commission believes that the administration of the marketing plan will be promoted thereby, the commission may borrow money, with or without interest, to carry out the provisions of the marketing plan, and may hypothecate anticipated assessment collections.

The commission may by written contract accept a voluntary assessment from any person in a travel and tourism related business who is not an assessed business. The contract shall apply solely to the person in question and not to any other person in a travel and tourism related business that is not an assessed business. The contract shall provide that the voluntary assessment be proportionately equivalent to the assessment that would be levied if the person were an assessed business under this chapter, shall permit that business to vote on any referendum conducted under this chapter as if that person were an assessed business, and shall have a term concurrent with the effective period of any referendum on which the person votes. Individual voluntary assessments under this section shall be enforceable only under the terms of the respective contracts to which they pertain. This section shall not be construed to preclude donations to, or cooperative marketing activities of any kind with, the commission on the part of any person.