California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sept. 24 signed into law a bill that bans minors from using tanning salons in the state, according to the office of the chief clerk of the Assembly. It is now illegal for anyone under 14 years old to tan under any circumstances. The fine for each violation is as much as $2,500 per day. The law still allows 14- to 18-year-olds to tan indoors if a parental consent form is signed.
Tanning industry professionals who opposed the legislation were surprised at the governor’s decision.
The newly formed California Indoor Tanning Trade Organization (CITTO) says Schwarzenegger has been targeted in the media recently for some of his legislative decisions. He could have been “willing to compromise on this particular bill in order to maybe do something that he felt was significantly more important in some other area,” Rhonda Van Tassell, CITTO’s legislative/media liaison, told LOOKING FIT.
“Because the bill was completely gutted by the time it got to his desk, and because there is very little economic impact on us as a result of this, we feel like we still have achieved a significant victory in some way,” she says.
First introduced in February by Assemblyman Joe Nation, Assembly Bill 2193 aimed to make it illegal for anyone under 18 years old to tan without a doctor’s permission. While it passed in the Assembly, the Senate voted down the bill--but agreed to reconsider.
With that window of opportunity, Nation began working with individual senators to change their “no” votes to “yes,” according to the Indoor Tanning Association (ITA).
In the second time through the Senate, the bill was amended to lower the age to 14 and passed. The Assembly concurred within days, and the bill was sent to the governor for his signature. Under California law, Schwarzenegger had 30 days from the day the bill was presented to him (Sept. 8) to sign or veto. Even if he took no action, AB 2193 would have become law.
“I’m disappointed, I really am,” John Overstreet, executive director of the ITA, told LOOKING FIT. “There was every indication that he was going to veto the bill.”
Though disheartened, Overstreet says he’s proud of the way the California tanning community mobilized to fight the bill. From the early days of the legislation, salon owners banded together to write letters and call lawmakers, urging them to vote against AB 2193.
“These people who worked so hard and these businesses that put in so much effort deserve a tremendous amount of credit,” he says.