THIS IS THE ASSEMBLY BANKING AND
FINANCE COMMITTEE IS CALLED TO
ORDER. AND SERGEANT, IF YOU
WILL, PLEASE CALL THE ABSENT
MEMBERS. WE DON'T HAVE A QUORUM
RIGHT AT THE MOMENT, SO WE WILL
START AS A SUBCOMMITTEE. WELCOME
TO THE ASSEMBLY BANKING AND
FINANCE COMMITTEE. WHETHER YOU
ARE HERE IN PERSON OR WATCHING
VIRTUALLY, I AM GRATEFUL THAT
YOU HAVE JOINED US IN ROOM FOUR
FOR FOUR. I DO WANT TO NOTE THAT
WE ARE ACCEPTING WRITTEN
TESTIMONY THROUGH THE POSITION
LETTER. THE POSITION LETTER
PORTAL ON THE COMMITTEE'S
WEBSITE, AND WITH THAT, IT IS
TIME TO MOVE ON TO THE HEARING.
AGAIN, WE DON'T HAVE A QUORUM,
SO WE ARE STARTING AS A
SUBCOMMITTEE AND WE DON'T HAVE A
CONSENT CALENDAR TODAY. SO WE
WILL TURN TO OUR ITEMS ON FILE
FILE ITEM NUMBER ONE AB 3148.
ASSEMBLY MEMBER CHEN, THE
RECOMMENDATION IS THAT THE
SENATE SENATE AMENDMENT BE
CONCURRED IN ASSEMBLY MEMBER
CHEN. WHEN YOU ARE READY, YOU
CAN START WITH YOUR OPENING
STATEMENT. THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR.
I REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR TIME.
IF I MAY 1ST START OFF WITH A
POINT OF PERSONAL PRIVILEGE. I
WANT TO THANK YOUR LEADERSHIP AS
THIS IS THE OFFICIAL LAST
BANKING FINANCE COMMITTEE ON THE
ASSEMBLY SIDE FOR MR. CHAIR TIM
GRAYSON. YOU KNOW, I'VE BEEN IN
THE ASSEMBLY SINCE 2016, AND
IT'S BEEN A PRIVILEGE TO BE ABLE
TO WORK WITH YOU SINCE I'VE BEEN
VICE CHAIR AND CANDID WITH YOU.
I'LL KEEP THIS A SECRET THAT
YOU'RE MY FAVORITE CHAIR TO WORK
WITH, NOT ONLY ARE YOU A PERSON
OF PUBLIC POLICY ACUMEN, NO ONE
WORKS HARDER THAN YOU. BUT
YOU'RE A MAN OF INTEGRITY. SO
I'M ALSO HAPPY TO KNOW THAT YOU
WON'T BE LEAVING US TOO FAR. AND
YOU'LL BE GOING TO THE SENATE
SIDE. SO I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR
YOUR LEADERSHIP. I ALSO WANT TO
THANK THE INCREDIBLE COMMITTEE
CONSULTANTS, BOTH ON THE
DEMOCRATIC SIDE AND ALSO OUR
REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT, LIZ, FOR
ALL YOUR HARD WORK. BUT I WANT
TO THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT. YOU
DO REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR
CANDOR, YOUR INTEGRITY, AND ALL
YOUR HARD WORK, MR. CHAIR. THANK
YOU. THANK YOU. VICE CHAIR CHEN,
I SECOND THAT MOTION. THANK YOU,
MISS DIXON. THEY'LL BE THE ONLY
MOTION SHE'LL BE SECONDING
TODAY. SO, AGAIN, THANK YOU FOR
ALLOWING ME TO PRESENT AB 3148.
CURRENTLY, PAYDAY LOAN LENDERS
ARE REQUIRED TO PAY LICENSE FEES
BASED ON THE NUMBER OF BRICK AND
MORTAR LOCATIONS THE LICENSEE
OPERATES IN CALIFORNIA IN RECENT
YEARS, THE NUMBER OF THESE BRICK
AND MORTAR LOCATIONS HAS
DECREASED SIGNIFICANTLY AND
ONLINE TRANSACTIONS HAVE
CONTINUED TO GROW. AT THE SAME
TIME, THE DEPARTMENT COST TO
ADMINISTER THE PAYDAY LOAN
PROGRAM HAVE CONTINUED TO
INCREASE BOTH ONLINE AND
IN-STORE TRANSACTIONS ARE LEGAL
AND REGULATED BY DFP, BUT BASING
FEES ON THE NUMBER OF LOCATIONS
THEY OPERATE IN THE STATE, NOT
BASED ON THE VOLUME OF BUSINESS
THEY CONDUCT IN CALIFORNIA, HAS
LED TO AN INEQUITABLE RISE IN
COSTS. THIS BILL WOULD CHANGE
THE PROBLEM BY REQUIRING DFP TO
ASSESS FEES TO PAYDAY LOAN
LICENSES BASED ON THE VOLUME OF
BUSINESS IN CALIFORNIA, AS
OPPOSED TO THE NUMBER OF BRICK
AND MORTAR LOCATIONS HERE. TO
TESTIFY. WE HAVE MR. JOHN
MOFFATT, ON BEHALF OF THE
CALIFORNIA FINANCIAL SERVICE
PROVIDERS, TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL
BACKGROUND AND ANSWER ANY
QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE. MR.
AND BEFORE YOUR TESTIMONY, LET'S
ESTABLISH A QUORUM. THANK YOU.
SIR. SECRETARY, PLEASE CALL THE
ROLL. GRAYSON. HERE. CHIN HERE.
CERVANTES. DIXON FONG. HERE.
MAIENSCHEIN. PETRIE-NORRIS
BLANCO. RUBIO. SORIA AND YOU MAY
BEGIN WITH YOUR WITNESS
TESTIMONY. GOOD MORNING, MR.
CHAIR. MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE,
JOHN MOFFAT, ON BEHALF OF THE
CALIFORNIA FINANCIAL SERVICE
PROVIDERS, WE ARE THE TRADE
ASSOCIATION FOR THE ENTITIES
THAT PAY THESE FEES. WE
APPRECIATE THE AUTHOR BRINGING
THIS BILL FORWARD. I THINK THE
AUTHORS STATEMENT AND, YOU KNOW,
AS ALWAYS, THE COMMITTEE
ANALYSIS LAYS OUT PRECISELY WHAT
WE'RE TRYING TO DO RIGHT NOW.
FEES ARE BASED ON THE NUMBER OF
LOCATIONS, NOT THE VOLUME OF
BUSINESS. I THINK THIS BILL SORT
OF MODERNIZES THE ASSESSMENT
STRUCTURE TO BE CONSISTENT WITH
THE 5 OR 6 OTHER PROGRAMS AT
DFP, WHERE FEES ARE ASSESSED
BASED ON VOLUME OF BUSINESS OUT
IN THE MARKETPLACE, YOU COULD
HAVE ONE LICENSEE WITH, YOU
KNOW, DOING ONLINE LOANS, DOING
$10 MILLION IN BUSINESS EVERY
YEAR, AND ANOTHER LICENSEE WITH
FIVE BRICK AND MORTAR LOCATIONS.
THAT'S DOING $1 MILLION IN
BUSINESS EVERY YEAR. AND THAT
ONE ENTITY WITH FIVE LOCATIONS,
EACH OF THOSE LICENSED IS PAYING
FIVE TIMES THE FEE AMOUNT THAT
THE YOU KNOW, THE ONE ONLINE
LENDER IS PAYING BOTH GOOD
TRANSACTIONS, BOTH LEGAL
TRANSACTIONS, EVERYONE FOLLOWING
THE LAW. BUT IT REALLY JUST THE
BILL MORE CLOSELY ALIGNS THE
VOLUME OF WORK WITH THE VOLUME
OF BUSINESS. AND JUST AS I SAID,
MODERNIZES THE FEE STRUCTURE.
WITH THAT, WE ASK FOR YOUR
SUPPORT AND HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY
QUESTIONS. SO MOVE. SO WE DO.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TESTIMONY. WE
DO HAVE A MOTION BY ASSEMBLY
MEMBER DIXON, AND WE DO HAVE A
SECOND BY ASSEMBLY MEMBER FONG.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER WITNESSES IN
THE ROOM THAT WOULD LIKE TO
EXPRESS THEIR SUPPORT, SEEING
NONE, NO WITNESSES ON FILE IN
OPPOSITION. ANY OPPOSITION IN
THE ROOM? SEEING NONE AS WELL.
WE'LL BRING IT BACK TO COMMITTEE
FOR QUESTIONS. COMMENTS? SEEING
NONE, THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH,
ASSEMBLY MEMBER CHEN, VICE CHAIR
CHEN, WOULD YOU LIKE TO CLOSE? I
RESPECTFULLY ASK FOR AYE VOTE.
VERY NICE. CLOSE. THANK YOU. SO
MUCH. AND WITH THAT, I DO WANT
TO THANK THE VICE CHAIR. AS
WELL, FOR YOUR PARTNERSHIP AND
WORK. WE'VE MADE A GREAT TEAM IN
THE BANKING, FINANCE COMMITTEE.
IT'S BEEN A WONDERFUL WORKING
WITH YOU. AND, WE'LL HAVE
SECRETARY CALL THE ROLL. THANK
YOU, MR. CHAIR. ON THE BILL, AB
3184, THE MOTION IS SENATE
AMENDMENTS BE CONCURRED IN.
THREE I APOLOGIZE. AB 3148
GRAYSON I GRAYSON I CHEN I CHEN
I CERVANTES. DIXON DIXON I FONG
FONG I MAIENSCHEIN. HI.
MAIENSCHEIN AYE. PETRIE-NORRIS
RUBIO. SORIA HAS FIVE VOTES. THE
BILL HAS FIVE VOTES. WE WILL
KEEP THE ROLL OPEN FOR ABSENT
MEMBERS TO COME IN. AND THE
MOTION DOES PASS. AND AS WE HAVE
MORE MEMBERS COMING IN, I AM
GOING TO HAND THE GAVEL OVER TO
VICE CHAIR CHEN. AS I STEP OUT
FOR A MOMENT, I WILL RETURN TO
ADJOURN HERE IN JUST A LITTLE
BIT. WE WILL KEEP THE ROLL OPEN
FOR ABSENT MEMBERS.
IF. YOU COULD COME BACK. FROM
THE VOTE, YOU DO MORE IMPORTANT
THINGS. AND YOU CAN VOTE NOW.
THANK YOU. THANK YOU. ON THE
BILL, AB 3148. THE MOTION IS
SENATE AMENDMENTS BE CONCURRED
IN CERVANTES PETRIE-NORRIS. AYE.
PETRIE-NORRIS. AYE RUBIO. SORIA.
THAT BILL HAS SIX VOTES. FIVE.
THREE. ZERO. ONE.
FIVE. KAMLAGER. THE NEXT.
ON THE BILL. AB 3148. THE MOTION
IS THE SENATE AMENDMENTS BE
CONCURRED IN CERVANTES. RUBIO
SORIA. SORIA. AYE SEVEN VOTES.
NOW THERE ARE.
EIGHT ON THE BILL. AB 3148. THE
MOTION IS THE SENATE AMENDMENTS
BE CONCURRED IN CERVANTES. RUBIO
RUBIO. AYE. THE BILL HAS EIGHT
VOTES. THANK YOU. OKAY THE
BANKING FINANCE COMMITTEE IS NOW
ADJOURNED. THANK YOU. GOOD
MORNING. GOOD MORNING. THANK YOU
FOR KEEPING THAT ONE ON. HOW
WELL WE DIDN'T WANT YOU TO HAVE
A. GOOD BYE. GOOD LUCK. WE SAU.
OF COURSE. OKAY. BANKING AND
FINANCE HAS ADJOURNED.