California tourism: assessments: restaurants and retail industry.

The California Tourism Marketing Act requires the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) to establish the California Travel and Tourism Commission, a nonprofit mutual benefit corporation, for the purpose of increasing the number of persons traveling to and within California. The act requires the commission to annually prepare and implement a tourism marketing plan, among other things, and provides for the imposition by referendum and collection of specified assessments upon businesses in industry segments of the tourism industry to fund the plan and other duties of the commission. The act exempts certain categories of businesses, including small businesses and travel agencies or tour operators that derive less than 20% of their gross revenue annually from travel and tourism occurring within the state, from those assessments. This bill, on and after January 1, 2020, would also exempt from those assessments businesses in the restaurants and retail industry category and derive less than 20% of their gross revenues annually from travel and tourism occurring within the state, unless the business elects to participate as specified.