Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1475555
S AG-AFTRA is fighting to protect members at local, state and federal levels. Here's the status of some of the major pieces of legislation the union is backing. THE LAW ACT The Let Artists Work Act is set to head toward the California Senate Appropriations Committee. The legislation, led by Assembly member Ash Kalra, abolishes unfair contract provisions that keep actors tied to employers, forcing them to forfeit outside employment opportunities, and allows them the freedom to work without penalty. The bill passed through the California Senate Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement, and the California Senate Judiciary Committee in June. Union member actors Ginnifer Goodwin and Dulé Hill offered compelling testimony that helped push these vital bills through the legislature, and actor Melora Hardin spoke with legislators in Sacramento. Hill, who is also a SAG-AFTRA National Board member, pressed legislators to act, saying, "I understand fundamentally and personally the stresses that arise when you are made unavailable for work, and this issue has directly impacted my family. Productions keeping actors in this type of career limbo is a restriction that's time has passed. It was never healthy to begin with. Every worker in California should be entitled to the freedom to work." THE AMERICAN MUSIC FAIRNESS ACT Legislative efforts to pass the American Music Fairness Act, a bill that would establish a public performance right to compensate vocalists and musicians when their work is played on terrestrial radio, are still ongoing. In February, SAG-AFTRA member Gloria Estefan testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee to advocate for the bill saying, "When their music is played on the radio, artists don't get paid. Only the songwriters do. Radio stations benefit from the advertising dollars, but the artists that breathed life into a song, the featured artists, the singers, producers and studio musicians, are left out." In June at the AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, SAG-AFTRA and AFM introduced a resolution to support the legislation. SAG-AFTRA Vice President, Recording Artists/Singers Janice Pendarvis spoke in support of the resolution, saying in part, "This legislation will right a historic wrong. It will also ensure that smaller terrestrial stations are not overly burdened with exorbitant fees. Rates will be negotiated by all interested DULÉ HILL Legislative Updates Continues on page 58 For Members U.S. Rep. Judy Chu presented a certificate of recognition to SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher on July 17 for her efforts to promote passage of the Performing Artist Tax Parity Act. Chu credited Drescher with expanding support from 20 co-sponsors to 80, and doing so in a bipartisan fashion that includes 69 Democrats and 11 Republicans. The Performing Artist Tax Parity Act would provide tax relief to members making less than $100,000, or $200,000 for those filing jointly.