Entertainment Software Association testimony on AB 1921: Difference between revisions
new page documenting the esa's june 29 2026 testimony against ab 1921 in the senate committee, placing each claim next to the bill text, the hearing recording, and the ustr reports; the committee failed the bill 4 to 3 and granted reconsideration |
expanded the committee vote section into plain language: the six-of-eleven majority rule, what 'no vote recorded' means, that the four non-voters were present and declined to vote rather than absent, and what reconsideration is |
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== Committee vote == | == Committee vote == | ||
The committee voted on AB 1921 on June 29, 2026. The motion was to pass the bill & re-refer it to the Appropriations Committee; it drew 4 ayes & 3 noes, with four of the committee's eleven members not voting, & failed.<ref name="billvotes" /> The committee | The committee voted on AB 1921 on June 29, 2026. The motion was to pass the bill & re-refer it to the Appropriations Committee; it drew 4 ayes & 3 noes, with four of the committee's eleven members not voting, & failed.<ref name="billvotes" /> | ||
More members voted for the bill than against it, but that was not enough to pass it. Under the rules of the California Legislature, a bill cannot leave a committee unless a majority of the committee's full membership votes for it: ''A majority of all members is required to report a bill out of committee.''<ref name="comrules" /> The committee has eleven members, so six aye votes were needed.<ref name="billvotes" /> AB 1921 received four, so it failed for lack of the six ayes it needed, regardless of the three noes. | |||
The four members who did not vote, Archuleta, Grayson, Menjivar, & Smallwood-Cuevas, were marked ''No Vote Recorded,'' or NVR.<ref name="billvotes" /> California's records do not separate a member who is absent from one who is present but does not vote; the nonpartisan newsroom CalMatters reports that ''the California Legislature does not distinguish between a lawmaker who is absent ... and a legislator who is present but does not vote,'' and that both count the same as a no vote.<ref name="calmatters" /> A member who does not vote aye therefore has the same effect on the outcome as one who votes no. | |||
In this case the four were present, not absent. The hearing recording shows each taking part in the committee's other business that day, & Senator Archuleta cast an aye on the bill heard immediately before AB 1921, seconds before its roll call; when their names were called on AB 1921, none of the four cast a vote.<ref name="hearing" /> | |||
After the bill failed, the committee granted reconsideration, which the California State Senate glossary defines as ''a motion giving the opportunity to take another vote on a matter previously decided in a committee hearing or floor session.''<ref name="glossary" /> That keeps AB 1921 alive for one more committee vote if its author brings it back.<ref name="billhistory" /> As of June 30, 2026, AB 1921 had not advanced past the committee.<ref name="billhistory" /> | |||
[[File:AB 1921 Senate committee vote June 2026.png|thumb|center|upright=2.8|The Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee record shows AB 1921 failing on June 29, 2026 by 4 ayes to 3 noes, with four members not voting.<ref name="billvotes" />]] | [[File:AB 1921 Senate committee vote June 2026.png|thumb|center|upright=2.8|The Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee record shows AB 1921 failing on June 29, 2026 by 4 ayes to 3 noes, with four members not voting.<ref name="billvotes" />]] | ||
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<ref name="ustr2025">{{Cite web |title=2025 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy |publisher=Office of the United States Trade Representative |url=https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/files/Press/Releases/2026/2025%20Notorious%20Markets%20List%20(final).pdf |access-date=2026-06-30}}</ref> | <ref name="ustr2025">{{Cite web |title=2025 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy |publisher=Office of the United States Trade Representative |url=https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/files/Press/Releases/2026/2025%20Notorious%20Markets%20List%20(final).pdf |access-date=2026-06-30}}</ref> | ||
<ref name="ustr2015">{{Cite web |title=2015 Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets |publisher=Office of the United States Trade Representative |url=https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/USTR-2015-Out-of-Cycle-Review-Notorious-Markets-Final.pdf |access-date=2026-06-30}}</ref> | <ref name="ustr2015">{{Cite web |title=2015 Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets |publisher=Office of the United States Trade Representative |url=https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/USTR-2015-Out-of-Cycle-Review-Notorious-Markets-Final.pdf |access-date=2026-06-30}}</ref> | ||
<ref name="comrules">{{Cite web |title=Committee Rules |publisher=California State Assembly |url=https://aaar.assembly.ca.gov/publications/committee-rules |access-date=2026-06-30}}</ref> | |||
<ref name="calmatters">{{Cite web |title=Some legislators miss hundreds of votes, but even 'excused' absences count as a 'no' |last=Kamal |first=Sameea |date=2024-10-21 |website=CalMatters |url=https://calmatters.org/politics/2024/10/california-legislature-absences-abstentions/ |access-date=2026-06-30}}</ref> | |||
<ref name="glossary">{{Cite web |title=Glossary of Legislative Terms |publisher=California State Senate |url=https://www.senate.ca.gov/citizens-guide/glossary-terms |access-date=2026-06-30}}</ref> | |||
</references> | </references> | ||