No On Government Waste Committee Calls AIDS Healthcare Foundation Campaign Claims Baseless And Laughable

AHF Has Long Record of Billing Improprieties Affecting Taxpayers

The No On Government Waste Committee, a broad coalition of healthcare, business, entertainment and community groups, responded forcefully to allegations by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation regarding a single contribution coming from Manwin USA, the U.S.-based subsidiary of a global entertainment firm, by calling the charge “baseless” and “idiotic” and a shallow attempt to divert attention from the overwhelming community support building against Measure B, the so-called “Safer Sex” initiative on the Nov. 6^th ballot.

“Once again, AHF has ably demonstrated they have no idea what they are talking about with this ridiculous allegation. They are so clueless, they even filed their complaint with the wrong government agency,” said James Lee, communications director for the No on Government Waste Committee. “They know the polling as well as we do as voter sentiment throughout the county has turned against them and against Measure B and now they are trying desperately to do anything to save what is arguably the dumbest initiative ever to make a ballot.”

In the beginning of the campaign, a clerical error resulted in a contribution being misidentified as coming from Froytal Services LTD, when in fact it came from Manwin, USA, a U.S.-based firm registered in Delaware, RI. The error was corrected and all campaign disclosures were updated, said Lee. Federal and state election law clearly allows for contributions from overseas corporate entities so long as it comes from a subsidiary based and registered in the U.S. As an example, both the Romney and Obama presidential campaigns and related Super PACS have taken in hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign contributions from U.S.-based subsidiaries of foreign companies.

“The irony in AHF citing a campaign violation when it has willfully violated disclosure requirements in not telling voters that former porn actors Darren James and Derrick James were both paid by Yes on B for their endorsements is almost laughable, if it wasn’t so serious,” Lee said. “It’s even more pathetic when you consider how AHF has conducted its bookkeeping operations in its own business at the expense of taxpayers.”

The No on Government Waste Committee revealed government audits which showed a long pattern of double-billing and over-charging by AHF that potentially cost taxpayers millions of dollars, including:

• August 16, 2012 audit by the Los Angeles County Department of Auditor-Controller showed that AHF overbilled the Department of Public Health by $1.7 million for contracts worth $8.5 million from January 2008 to March 2009. The audit also found about $20,000 in undocumented and unallowable expenditures. The Auditor-Controller has asked AHF to determine the amount of overbilling for subsequent years;
• Two separate audits by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration on February 16, 2010, and August 29, 2006, showed AHF billed Medicaid for pharmaceutical drugs that were not purchased or dispensed to patients. The 2010 audit showed Medicaid overpaid AHF by $8,117.42 and the 2006 audit showed the overpayment was $73,595.80. The agency also fined AHF $3,435.22 in 2010 and $5,000 in 2006;
• In a June 3, 2010, examination by the California Department of Managed Care of 59 claims paid by AHF, auditors found problems with AHF’s accounting and billing practices that resulted in AHF underpaying claims submitted to them for medical services provided to policyholders of Positive Healthcare, AHF’s privately-owned insurance plan; and
• In May 13, 2005, the Los Angeles County Auditor-Controller found AHF was double-billing L.A. County and Medi-Cal for the same patients receiving hospice service at the Carl Bean House over an eight-month period from March 2004 through December 2004. AHF kept $348,000 in overpayments and refused to repay it to the county and argued that it had been double-billing since 1992 and were entitled to the additional funds due to the low-reimbursement rate from Medi-Cal.

“AHF has a long history of shoddy bookkeeping that has costs taxpayers and with Measure B it has once again put forth another taxpayer-funded debacle. For a non-profit organization that receives the bulk of its funding from taxpayer-supported Medicare and Medicaid insurance payments, the question should be at the top of every regulator and elected official’s mind ‘Just what the heck is AHF doing with scarce taxpayer dollars?’” Lee said. “If nothing else comes out of this election, a thorough investigation of AHF’s books, especially its use of potential taxpayer dollars to fund political activity, should be at the top of every investigators to-do list.”

Measure B, funded and placed on the ballot by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, would require the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to license and permit adult movie productions in the county and require performers to wear condoms and create an unworkable system of on-set inspections and enforcement by county personnel. The county estimates initial start-up costs for the program to be in excess of $300,000, but acknowledges that regardless of the level of compliance by the adult film industry, there would be significant cost to the Department of Public Health.

According to the California Dept. of Public Health, from June 30, 2008 to June 30, 2011, there were 6,447 new cases of HIV reported in Los Angeles County, but only two were adult performers who did not contract the disease on-set. Since 2004, there have been no documented cases of HIV transmission on an adult entertainment set.  In fact, with the industry’s strict testing protocols – requiring testing at least every 14 and 28 days for HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis – adult performers are the most tested workforce in the nation.

No on Government Waste Committee

The Committee is comprised of entertainment companies, local business organizations, community activists, adult entertainment performers and healthcare advocates who oppose Measure B’s plan for creating an underfunded government inspection program diverting badly needed resources from local community clinics and underserved minority communities. For more information, please visit the campaign website.

 

Heaven & Hell Party Supports ‘NO on Measure B’

(l to r) Chi Chi, Eric Swiss, Riley Reid, Anikka Albrite, Will Ryder, and J.J. Hollyberry, who plays Blutarsky in ‘Not Animal House XXX’

Costumed members of the porn industry turned out by the hundreds Saturday night at the annual Heaven & Hell Porn Bash in Hollywood thrown by XPlay’s Jeff Mullen and Scott David, and Danny B. Many industry members attended to support the ‘No on Measure B’ campaign – Los Angeles’ condom ballot measure, which allows government to creep closer into your lives by regulating the type of entertainment you watch in your bedroom.

On a warm, breezeless night, the costume bash expanded to over 1,000 people by 11pm at adjacent clubs Roxbury & Hemingway’s. The industry had their own sexy private VIP room, packed with scantily clad porn stars who drank and danced the night away. 

“The goal of the party was to have a great time celebrating Halloween – and to raise cash and awareness for the industry’s efforts on behalf of ‘no on government waste,’ which will help purchase the final television and radio spots encouraging people to vote no on measure B,” stated multi-award winning director Mullen.

Measure B is an ill-conceived effort to require mandatory condom usage on adult film sets, but instead will destroy the nation’s most advanced testing program and replace it with a government program that will cost taxpayers money for “condom police.”  If you believe our government should not waste taxpayer’s money attempting to regulate what has been a safe adult movie industry, please vote no on Measure B.

If Measure B is not defeated, it will have a tremendously negative effect on the adult film industry; the gala event raised much-needed money for advertising before the general election on Nov. 6. But more money is quickly needed. If you wish to make a private donation to No on Measure B, please visit the website. Any amount will help.

“Measure B is much more than a condom vote, which most in our own adult movie industry don’t realize – it really has to do with who is going to control the decisions affecting the adult film making industry,” stated Scott David of XPlay Media.

The Halloween bash has been widely known as the porn party-of-the-year and was sponsored by The Screaming O^®, HotMovies, Adam & Eve Pictures, Uncle Don’s Exotic Interludes, XPlay, Adult Biz Law, Free Speech Coalition and All Media Play. The gala also was the official celebration of the parody movie “Not Animal House XXX,” from Adam & Eve Pictures and XPlay. Many members of the cast were in attendance including Britney Amber who played ‘Babs’.

“This is always such a fun night seeing friends and having a few drinks with all these sexy ladies and cute guys,” the blond superstar said over the pulsating music.    

The evening was packed with gorgeous ladies as it was co-hosted by the top talent agencies including OC Modeling, LA Direct Models, Adult Talent Managers LA, Spiegler Girls, Type 9 Models, Foxxx Modeling and Matrix Models – girls from every agency were spotted in the packed party. 

Superstar Sunny Lane even came out from her self-imposed sabbatical from the porn industry, to hit the red carpet as she returns to the industry full-force. 

“I don’t ever want to miss one of these XPlay parties so I decided to put on a costume and come out and have some fun,” said Lane.

Ron Jeremy acted as the master of ceremonies but rarely got far away from the red carpet photo area as he was mobbed by photographers and cute new starlets looking to pose with him for some risqué photos. 

“Are you kidding me? I’ve been coming to Heaven & Hell for ten years now and I always have a great time with my friends and these cute new girls. Somebody has to teach them what goes where and why,” said Jeremy, who was there promoting his Ron de Jeremy rum.

“We had to tell Ronnie that the photo area was not a bedroom,” joked director Will Ryder.

Spooky party hostess Mia Gold experienced her first really big porn party and raved about it.

“This was so much fun and I had an amazing time with all of these beautiful people and it was so much better than I anticipated.”

Award-winning actor James Bartholet echoed the sentiment, “Another fabulous night filled with colorful language and sexy girls.”

(Media release and photo courtesy of XPlay)

Businesses in San Fernando Valley to Throw Fundraiser for NO on Measure B

The owners of Reseda Flowers and banquet hall Venetian Palace, and other businesses located in the San Fernando have graciously volunteered to throw a fundraiser benefiting the NO on Measure B campaign.

The event is scheduled for 5-9pm on Thursday, Nov 1, at the Venetian Palace, located at 6740 Corbin Ave., Reseda, CA, 91335. There will be food and non-alcoholic beverages served, as well as entertainment provided by a psychic reader and a DJ. The fundraiser welcomes adult industry members and the public; donations will be taken at the event. FSC’s Duke and Vivid Entertainment’s Marci Hirsch will attend, and other adult industry members are encouraged to attend.

“Carmen [owner of Reseda Flowers] and the owners of Venetian Palace reached out to us and they want to do this fundraiser for the NO on Measure B campaign,” FSC CEO Diane Duke said. “It’s proof that the people of the San Fernando Valley do support the adult industry and see us as an important part of the community. Also, the event organizers say that they don’t like Measure B or intrusion by government into people’s personal choices, when it comes to sexuality and adult entertainment.

“Once voters understand that the adult industry has a successful testing program, people can see that Measure B is unnecessary,” Duke added. “L.A. County has real issues to deal with, like the economy and creating jobs. Local officials should be focused on providing services and resources for small, local businesses that need them, among many other issues.”

FSC also would like to remind industry members to be good neighbors and support local businesses like Reseda Flowers and the Venetian Palace. By supporting our local communities, we give back to friends and fans of the adult industry. Save the date – Thursday night will be a lot of fun!

Infographic: The FACTS about L.A. County Ballot Measure B

Here’s an infographic we would love for you to share with friends and anyone that you know will be voting in L.A. County on Nov 6. Simply put, these are the facts about Measure B, L.A.’s Condom Ballot Measure.

An L.A. County budget adviser this week just recommended 200 more layoffs for the County, mostly personnel from the City Attorney’s Office and LAPD.

Clearly, AHF does not care about Los Angeles taxpayers if they think putting condoms on adult performers is an most important “threat” to public safety in Los Angeles. The No to Measure B Committee asks you to put police, victims of crime and the citizens of Los Angeles first – ahead of Measure B, which will only waste desperately needed funding and resources.

For more information on the opposition to Measure B, please visit the website, where you can view videos voluntarily created by adult industry performers who are directly threatened by Measure B’s potential repercussions. And, if you feel strongly against government overreach, unnecessary regulations, wasting tax dollars and misguided legislation, please DONATE – even $5 can help – Please, help us in our effort and VOTE NO on Measure B!

St. James Infirmary Latest Community-Based Healthcare Group To Oppose Measure B Says No On Government Waste Committee

Medical and Social Service Provider Opposes Effort to Take Away Performer Choice

The overwhelming outpouring of opposition to Measure B, the so-called “Safer Sex” initiative on the Nov. 6^th ballot, continued with the announcement by St. James Infirmary, a San Francisco-based community medical and social services provider, to oppose the initiative, joining every major newspaper, political parties, gay, lesbian and women’s groups, 44 chambers of commerce and business groups in Los Angeles County, said the No on Government Waste Committee.

“There is virtually no part of Los Angeles County’s political, business and healthcare life that has not come forward to oppose Measure B,” said James Lee, communications director for the No on Government Waste Committee. “We are deeply gratified to have the support and endorsement of St. James Infirmary, a terrific institution that has been dedicated to providing healthcare and social services to sex workers and fighting the scourge of HIV.”

St. James Infirmary annually provides 8,000 clinic and venue based services to more than 2,000 sex workers and their families. These services include medical and holistic care, testing services, peer counseling, needle distribution and recovery, outreach and group harm reduction workshops, hot meals to eat and food to take home, clothes, internships and capacity and leadership development.

“The motivations behind pushing for compulsory use of condoms in porn may be well intended, but the regulation of sex workers sexual health practices by outside agencies ultimately may result in unintended negative outcomes,” said Stephny Ashley, programs director for St. James Infirmary. “The self-regulating testing practices of the L.A. porn industry have been effective in keeping HIV prevalence at rates comparable to that of the general population since 2006.”

“We at St James Infirmary believe first and foremost in an individual’s right to make their own reproductive and sexual health choices, without having those choices regulated by politicians, police, religious or non-profit organizations. Sex workers are the most qualified to make decisions about how to best institute safer working conditions within their job environments, and only with their expertise should regulations be made,” Ashley added.

Along with the recent endorsements against Measure B by the Los Angeles County Federation of Republican Women, Log Cabin Republicans of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Republican and Libertarian Parties, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Daily News, six other local newspapers, 44 other local area chambers of commerce and the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, the largest business group in the San Fernando Valley, those standing in opposition to Measure B dwarfs the limited support proponents have been able to muster.

“Condoms are a vital part of reducing sexual health risk, and it should be every individual’s right to use them.  Unfortunately, Measure B does not address this issue,” Ashley said. “If Measure B passes, how soon before politicians, lawmakers and those who have no business in our bedrooms, barge in with further laws regulating our sexuality and personal freedoms?”

Measure B, funded and placed on the ballot by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, would require the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to license and permit adult movie productions in the county and require performers to wear condoms and create an unworkable system of on-set inspections and enforcement by county personnel. The county estimates initial start-up costs for the program to be in excess of $300,000, but acknowledges that regardless of the level of compliance by the adult film industry, there would be significant cost to the Department of Public Health.

According to the California Dept. of Public Health, from June 30, 2008 to June 30, 2011, there were 6,447 new cases of HIV reported in Los Angeles County, but only two were adult performers who did not contract the disease on-set. Since 2004, there have been no documented cases of HIV transmission on an adult entertainment set.  In fact, with the industry’s strict testing protocols – requiring testing at least every 28 days for HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis – adult performers are the most tested workforce in the nation.

No on Government Waste Committee

The Committee is comprised of entertainment companies, local business organizations, community activists, adult entertainment performers and healthcare advocates who oppose Measure B’s plan for creating an underfunded government inspection program diverting badly needed resources from local community clinics and underserved minority communities. For more information, please visit: www.noongovernmentwaste.com.

Log Cabin Republicans of Los Angeles Announce Opposition to Measure B, Says No on Government Waste Committee

Gay Republicans Latest to Join 44 Chambers of Commerce and Business Groups Opposed to Measure B

The effort to defeat Measure B, the so-called “Safer Sex” initiative on the Nov. 6th ballot, gain another important endorsement today when the Log Cabin Republicans of Los Angeles announced its opposition to Measure B, the so-called “Safer Sex” initiative on the Nov. 6th ballot, said the No on Government Waste Committee.

“The broad range of support for defeating Measure B covers business groups, political parties, women’s groups, healthcare advocates, the entertainment industry and now the gay and lesbian community,” said James Lee, communications director for the No on Government Waste Committee. “The outpouring of support across the county in defeating Measure B has been a stunning repudiation of Measure B and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s misguided attempts to create a new government bureaucracy of condom inspectors.”

Log Cabin Republicans is the only Republican organization dedicated to representing the interests of gay and lesbian Americans and their allies. The 30-year old organization has state and local chapters nationwide, a full-time office in Washington, DC, a federal political action committee and state political action committees.

“While Log Cabin supports the public health objectives behind Measure B, we do not believe that an onerous government mandate is the best way to accomplish those goals,” said Brad Torgan, Log Cabin Los Angeles Chapter president. “Instead, Measure B is more likely to drive production out of Los Angeles County, costing us jobs when we can least afford to lose them.”

“To me and others, Measure B is a simple constitutional question. If you believe that speech is protected under the First Amendment, then government has little power to mandate speech,” added Scott Schmidt, Log Cabin Los Angeles Chapter immediate past-president. “If it is protected under the First Amendment, then the County cannot step in and say what can or cannot be said or done, but for the rare circumstances of ‘screaming fire in a crowded theater.’ Measure B does not meet that Constitutional test.”

Along with the recent endorsements against Measure B by the Los Angeles County Federation of Republican Women, Los Angeles County Republican and Libertarian Parties, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Daily News, six other local newspapers, 43 other local area chambers of commerce and the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, the largest business group in the San Fernando Valley, those standing in opposition to Measure B dwarfs the limited support proponents have been able to muster.

Log Cabin Republicans of Los Angeles will be funding an independent expenditure to reach out within the LGBT community to oppose Measure B and promote four out-and-proud candidates endorsed by the California Log Cabin Republicans PAC.

Currently Log Cabin Clubs are chartered in Los Angeles, Santa Clara and San Francisco Counties. Endorsements in Federal races are made by the National Log Cabin Club, while State Constitutional and Legislative endorsements are made by the State Chapter.

Measure B, funded and placed on the ballot by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, would require the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to license and permit adult movie productions in the county and require performers to wear condoms and create an unworkable system of on-set inspections and enforcement by county personnel. The county estimates initial start-up costs for the program to be in excess of $300,000, but acknowledges that regardless of the level of compliance by the adult film industry, there would be significant cost to the Department of Public Health.

According to the California Dept. of Public Health, from June 30, 2008 to June 30, 2011, there were 6,447 new cases of HIV reported in Los Angeles County, but only two were adult performers who did not contract the disease on-set. Since 2004, there have been no documented cases of HIV transmission on an adult entertainment set. In fact, with the industry’s strict testing protocols — requiring testing at least every 28 days for HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis — adult performers are the most tested workforce in the nation.

No on Government Waste Committee

The Committee is comprised of entertainment companies, local business organizations, community activists, adult entertainment performers and healthcare advocates who oppose Measure B’s plan for creating an underfunded government inspection program diverting badly needed resources from local community clinics and underserved minority communities. For more information, please visit: http://www.noongovernmentwaste.com.

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Los Angeles County Federation Of Republican Women Join Opposition To Measure B, Says No On Government Waste Committee

First Women’s Group to Openly Call for Defeat of Measure B

Joining an ever-growing list of opposition from area newspapers to business groups and citing government overreach and need to focus on real issues, the Los Angeles County Federation of Republican Women, representing 35 local chapters with over 3,000 members today announced its opposition to Measure B, the so-called “Safer Sex” initiative on the Nov. 6^th ballot, said the No on Government Waste Committee.

“We are gratified to have the support of so many women who joined in the effort to defeat this poorly-conceived, badly-drafted and useless ballot measure that will do nothing to improve public health, but grow government and cost taxpayers,” said James Lee, communications director for the No on Government Waste Committee. “The Federation of Republican Women recognized, as we have long said, that Measure B is a classic example of government overreach and wrongly focuses attention away from the very real problems facing the County.”

The Los Angeles County Federation of Republican Women joins the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Daily News and four other local newspapers, 23 local area chambers of commerce and the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, the largest business group in the San Fernando Valley, in announcing their opposition to Measure B.

“Not even the adult entertainment industry is safe from the over-reaching arm of government pilfering. Measure B is a pathetic attempt by a desperate county government to extort money from taxpayers to fund a laughable regulatory branch of county government,” said Claudia J. Morgan-Andrade, president of the San Fernando Valley Federation of Republican Women. “Measure B means more government employee wages and pensions to police a mandate that will result in yet another industry seeking fiscal reprieve in a region less punitive to business.  Los Angeles County will lose yet another tax base while increasing our debt to government employee salary and pensions.”

Measure B, funded and placed on the ballot by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, would require the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to license and permit adult movie productions in the county and require performers to wear condoms and create an unworkable system of on-set inspections and enforcement by county personnel. The county estimates initial start-up costs for the program to be in excess of $300,000, but acknowledges that regardless of the level of compliance by the adult film industry, there would be significant cost to the Department of Public Health.

“This is the same county who’s Children & Family Service Division, with an annual budget of $1.8 billion, where 72 children have died in the last four years, 80 percent of emancipating youth do not have a high school diploma or GED, 40 percent of those ends up homeless and government workers retire with 80 percent of their salary. This is why the Republican Women Federated says ‘No to Measure B’,” Morgan-Andrade added.

According to the California Dept. of Public Health, from June 30, 2008 to June 30, 2011, there were 6,447 new cases of HIV reported in Los Angeles County, but only two were adult performers who did not contract the disease on-set. Since 2004, there have been no documented cases of HIV transmission on an adult entertainment set.  In fact, with the industry’s strict testing protocols – requiring testing at least every 28 days for HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis – adult performers are the most tested workforce in the nation.

No on Government Waste Committee

The Committee is comprised of entertainment companies, local business organizations, community activists, adult entertainment performers and healthcare advocates who oppose Measure B’s plan for creating an underfunded government inspection program diverting badly needed resources from local community clinics and underserved minority communities. For more information, please visit: www.noongovernmentwaste.com.

FSC Thanks Those Who Helped Solidify LA Times and Daily News Endorsements

Free Speech Coalition (FSC) is heartened by a significant development today as both the L.A. Times and the Daily News newspapers have endorsed the No on Measure B campaign.

“The L.A. Times and the Daily News reach one million readers in L.A. County. Having the endorsement of these and several other local publications sends a clear recommendation to voters to vote no on Measure B,” said FSC CEO Diane Duke.

“We are very grateful to the industry members and experts that stepped up to meet with these publications as spokespeople for the local adult production industry,” Duke added.

Industry members, experts and local representatives that met with the Daily News editorial board include performers Steven St Croix, Kayden Cross, Wicked Pictures owner Steve Orenstein, Cutting Edge Testing’s Dr. Peter Miao, Valley Industries and Commerce Association (VICA) President Stuart Waldman, and No On Measure B Media Director James Lee, as well as FSC’s Duke.

Additionally, the meeting with the L.A. Times editorial board was attended by performer Nina Hartley, Vivid Entertainment founder Steve Hirsch, VICA President Stuart Waldman, attorney and FSC chair Jeffrey Douglas, FSC’s Duke, and No on Measure B’s Lee.

“FSC wants to thank everyone that helped to represent the adult industry at the meetings with these important publications,” Duke continued. “Because we were able to explain the industry’s concerns and the serious flaws with Measure B, we have gained these important endorsements. Thank you!”

Measure B, the Los Angeles “Safer Sex” initiative, requires adult performers to use condoms and other forms of barrier protection on production sets and – if passed – would force County officials to implement elaborate enforcement protocols with a new County agency for adult production inspection. FSC and the adult industry stand in opposition to this flawed scheme, citing cost to L.A. taxpayers and warning that Measure B would drive the adult production industry from the Los Angeles area.

To learn more about the opposition to Measure B, visit NoOnGovernmentWaste.com. Industry members should contact FSC at (818) 348-9373 or info@freespeechcoalition.com, if they would like to learn more about how they can help to defeat Measure B.

No On Government Waste Committee Applauds Los Angeles Times And Los Angeles Daily News For Both Officially Opposing Measure B

Editorials Both Cite Measure B’s Potential Negative Economic Impact and Ineffectiveness

With a combined circulation of just over one million people, the No on Government Waste Committee applauded editorials in both the Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Daily News opposing Measure B, the so-called “Safer Sex” initiative on the Nov. 6^th ballot in Los Angeles County, which cited its potential for causing the loss of 10,000 jobs and $1 billion in tax revenue and economic activity with little or no benefit to public health and safety.

“The two largest newspapers in the county looked at every aspect of Measure B and carefully examined both sides arguments and arrived at the same conclusion: Voters must reject Measure B and vote no,” said James Lee, communications director for the No on Government Waste Committee. “We are deeply gratified that both newspapers looked at all the issues and carefully weighed them and realized that this is much more than simply using condoms. It’s about public health, government effectiveness and economic impact.”

The Times in its editorial cited the potential economic costs, as well as the potential for an unworkable and unenforceable government program of inspections and permitting.

“Yet we should care, not necessarily because porn should be embraced but rather because it is an integral part of the entertainment industry that represents many jobs and a large part of the Southern California economy. Even if there are only a few hundred on-camera performers, porn is estimated to be a $1-billion to $2-billion industry, employing thousands of sound, lighting, stage, technical and other crew members and post-production workers in between gigs in more-mainstream film and television productions,” The Times said.

“Measure B then falls into the category of ‘Let’s pass it and see what happens.’ That’s a bad way to make law because it puts government, or voters, on a track toward regulating all kinds of conduct without any hope of enforcing the requirements fairly and equally, and that in turn undermines the power of government.” The Times concluded.

In the Daily News editorial, the newspaper also cited the economic impacts, but also agreed with the industry’s contention that the risk to public health was minimal when compared to the general population.

“In fact, an infectious disease specialist who works with the adult film industry says performers have lower infection risks. Dr. Peter Miao says that’s because porn producers require performers to be tested at least once a month, and the industry responds to any performer’s positive test by voluntarily shutting down production until they’re sure the infection is contained,” The Daily News said.

“The porn industry claims to have a relatively safe record: It says nobody has contracted HIV on a porn movie set in the United States since 2004. Closer to home, another number may change the minds of those who picture porn performers representing a sizable population whose sex activity poses a public health risk worthy of county officials’ attention: The adult film industry’s trade association says that despite the image of Southern California and the San Fernando Valley in particular as the porn capital of the world, only 280 porn performers actually live in L.A. County year-round,” The Daily News added.

The Times and Daily News join a growing list of business groups, community organizations, political parties, women’s groups and health advocates in opposing Measure B. The editorials were also carried in the Torrance Daily Breeze and Long Beach Press Telegram newspapers.

No on Government Waste Committee

The Committee is comprised of entertainment companies, local business organizations, community activists, adult entertainment performers and healthcare advocates who oppose Measure B’s plan for creating an underfunded government inspection program diverting badly needed resources from local community clinics and underserved minority communities. For more information, please visit: www.noongovernmentwaste.com.

No on Government Waste Committee Outlines What AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s $4 Million in Campaign Expenditures Could Buy for AIDS Patients

Costly Campaign for Measure B Ignores Real HIV Health Threats in LA County

Recent campaign finance disclosure reports show that the AIDS Healthcare Foundation has already spent over $1.6 million on its efforts to pass Measure B, the so-called “Safer Sex” initiative on the Nov. 6^thballot in Los Angeles County, in addition to another estimated $2.5 million spent to pass a similar proposal at the City of Los Angeles, funds that could have been better spent combating HIV in underserved parts of the County according to the No on Government Waste Committee.

“It’s astonishing to think of what $4 million could have been better spent on than this initiative in combating the real problem areas of HIV and healthcare,” said James Lee, communications director for the No on Government Waste Committee. “That money could have paid for the entire state of the art testing program for the adult film industry for three years for example.”

The No on Government Waste Committee examined the most recent campaign disclosure forms filed by the Yes on B campaign and found that it had raised $1,643,467.20 to date with all of the money coming from a single donor: The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, with expenditures of $1,638,044.76.

“In comparison, we have been effectively outspent by a ratio of 14 to 1 and yet, voters, business groups and community organizations are flocking to urge ‘No’ votes because they see how ineffective and useless Measure B will be,” Lee said. “With funding coming from just one source, voters have to ask tough questions about what other uses those funds could have been put to.”

In addition to the $1.6 million already spent by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, it had previously spent an estimated $2.5 million to push this measure at the City of Los Angeles, as well as qualify it for the LA County ballot through paid petition signature gatherers.

Using the AHF’s own calculations, the No on Government Waste Committee estimated that the $4 million spent by AHF could have also been used to:

• Build a community clinic in a primarily impoverished African-American neighborhood where the population of those at highest-risk for HIV infection lives according to the Los Angeles County Dept. for Public Health. AHF currently only operates one healthcare center in a predominately African-American neighborhood, but operates three in predominately white, more affluent neighborhoods;
• Train 8,000 physicians in the provision of HIV/AIDS medical care;
• Support outreach in African-American and Spanish-language newspapers and media for an entire year to urge more testing for young, minority, gay males at highest-risk for infection;
• Pay for HIV testing of over 3,300 people every month for an ENTIRE year;
• Provide HIV treatment and care for 20,000 patients for an ENTIRE year;
• Buy and operate two mobile clinics offering free HIV testing in underserved minority communities, as well as offer primary health check-ups for the uninsured.

“As a non-profit organization dedicated to combating the scourge of AIDS and HIV infection, voters have to question AHF’s obsession with porn when there are clearly so many more important and significant public health risks in our communities,” Lee added. “Voters have to question the priorities of AHF when passage of Measure B would divert significant County public health resources away from real health hazards and send County employees to film sets to watch porn shoots, instead of into our communities where they belong.”

According to the California Dept. of Public Health, from June 30, 2008 to June 30, 2011, there were 6,447 new cases of HIV reported in Los Angeles County, but only two were adult performers who did not contract the disease on-set. Since 2004, there have been no documented cases of HIV transmission on an adult entertainment set. In fact, with the industry’s strict testing protocols — requiring testing every 14 and 28 days for HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis — adult performers are the most tested workforce in the nation.

Measure B, funded and placed on the ballot by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, would require the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to license and permit adult movie productions in the county and require performers to wear condoms and create an unworkable system of on-set inspections and enforcement by county personnel. The county estimates initial start-up costs for the program to be in excess of $300,000, but acknowledges that regardless of the level of compliance by the adult film industry, there would be significant cost to the Department of Public Health.

No on Government Waste Committee
The Committee is comprised of entertainment companies, local business organizations, community activists, adult entertainment performers and healthcare advocates who oppose Measure B’s plan for creating an underfunded government inspection program diverting badly needed resources from local community clinics and underserved minority communities. For more information, please visit: www.noongovernmentwaste.com.