LOS ANGELES — The No on Government Waste Committee has called a press conference for 9:30 a.m. on Thursday to announce the endorsement of leading L.A. County business groups in opposition to Measure B, the so-called Safer Sex initiative on the Nov. 6 ballot.
The No on Government Waste Committee is a coalition of business groups, entertainment industry firms, performers, healthcare professionals and community activists.
The announcement is expected to detail broad-based support from L.A. County business groups opposed to Measure B, which would require condoms to be mandatory in adult films. These groups are opposed because of the already stringent testing program in place to protect adult film performers and what it calls a "blow to the region’s economy with the potential loss of 10,000 jobs and over $1 billion in economic activity and local tax revenue," the Committee said Wednesday.
Press conference attendees will include: David Adelman, chair of the Valley Industry & Commerce Association; Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry & Commerce Association; Jeffrey Douglas, chair of the Free Speech Coalition; Nina Hartley, adult performer, healthcare advocate and activist; and James Deen, actor and performer.
The press conference will be held at the Burbank offices of Manwin.
Measure B would mandate condom usage on all adult film sets through a complex inspection and permitting system enforced by the L.A. County Dept. of Public Health which would require hiring of government employees to observe adult film sets as well as attempt to identify any commercial adult filmed activity in the county.
The Dept. of Public Health estimates the initial start-up costs for the program would be $300,000 with no idea of how effective permit fee collection would be as the program grew and expanded, according to the Committee.
The adult film industry already maintains one of the most comprehensive testing programs of any workforce where every performer is required to pass the latest PCR/RNA testing for HIV, as well as gonorrhea, syphilis and chlamydia every 28 and 14 days as a requirement to work. Since 2004, there have only been two reported cases of HIV infection among performers nationwide, both of which occurred off-set. In the same period, more than 6,400 cases of HIV were reported throughout L.A. County alone.
