CALIFORNIA: Senate Shelves Bill To Mandate Condom Use In Porn Statewide

In November 2012, Los Angeles County voters approved a bill that mandates the use of condoms in all local porn productions. The bill's passage resulted in a 90% decline in porn production permit applications in the county. Yesterday the California state Senate killed a bill that would have expanded that mandate statewide.

The measure, set aside by the Senate Appropriations Committee today, would have required the filmmakers to produce documentation showing condoms were used if a complaint was filed with the state. The appropriations panel’s decision came the same day that the committee boosted a proposed tax credit for Hollywood studios to $400 million a year, four times the current level, to stem the flight of film and TV production to other states. “It is unfortunate that some legislators don’t believe that protection should include keeping California actors safe while they are at work,” said Assemblyman Isadore Hall, a Los Angeles Democrat and the bill’s sponsor. The U.S. adult film industry produces 4,000 to 11,000 films a year, employing as many as 1,500 workers in Los Angeles, according to a legislative analysis. The films generate $9 billion to $13 billion a year in gross revenue, according to the report.

The bill had the backing of the controversial AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which also vigorously opposes the use of Truvada as a daily HIV preventive.