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Senator Carol Migden State Capitol, Room 5114 Sacramento, CA 95814 SUBJECT: SB 1057 (Migden) – RENTAL CARS - OPPOSE Dear Senator Migden, I OPPOSE your SB 1057 (Migden). In addition to requiring rental car companies to advertise the entire rental rate that includes the taxes, customer facility charge, airport concession fee and the mileage charge, this bill would prevent rental car companies from charging consumers the current tourism commission assessment used to fund and promote California as a tourist destination across the country and around the world. The current law is a result of extensive negotiations in 2006 with the rental car industry and consumer advocates ultimately resulting in the consensus AB 2592 (Leno). We believe that the changes to the law embodied in SB 1057 would undo many of the agreements reached in the current law. Additionally SB 1057 would make it difficult if not impossible for national rental car companies to advertise their products and make it difficult for consumers to compare these services as many mandatory items like taxes, customer facility charges and airport concessions fees vary greatly among different jurisdictions. Furthermore the bill will prevent rental car companies from collecting the tourism commission assessment. This assessment generates over $50 million towards the funding and promotion of tourism. With this funding, the tourism commission is able to significantly strengthen and expand current marketing and advertising efforts in key existing domestic and international markets and introduce the California brand to new domestic and international opportunity markets. Tourism is California’s fourth largest employer and fifth largest contributor to the gross state product. Today the travel and tourism industry brings in over $93.8 billion to the state economy, employs over 928,720 Californians and generates approximately $2.1 billion in local taxes and $3.5 billion in state taxes. The importance of investing in the promotion of California as a tourist destination cannot be underscored enough. The ability to continue to market California as a global destination for tourism will be vital to sustaining this critical component of our state’s economy.