Sellers of travel.

Existing law regulates sellers of travel, as defined, and requires a seller of travel to annually register with the Attorney General. Existing law establishes the Travel Consumer Restitution Corporation to provide restitution to a person aggrieved by the failure of a seller of travel, as specified, and provides for payment of claims from the Travel Consumer Restitution Fund established by the corporation. Existing law requires the corporation to establish and maintain an operations fund for the payment of costs of operations and administration. Existing law requires the corporation to bill and collect from each registered seller of travel an annual assessment not to exceed $35 for the operation fund. This bill would increase the maximum amount of the assessment for the operations fund to $60 and would authorize the corporation, with the approval of the Attorney General, to increase the maximum amount once per fiscal year in an amount not to exceed any one-year increase in the California Consumer Price Index for the immediately preceding year. This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.