NEWPORT BEACH : Adult News Rack Curbs to Be Pushed
Rebuffed in committee, a Newport Beach legislator will appeal to the full Assembly next week to save his bid to restrict sales of sexually explicit material to minors from vending machines.
The bill by Republican Assemblyman Gil Ferguson was rejected 3-3 Tuesday in the Public Safety Committee.
The Assembly panel was one member short, said Dean McEwen, Ferguson’s legislative aide. The bill needed a minimum of four votes to pass.
The legislation is Ferguson’s fourth attempt since 1987 to restrict the sale of sexually explicit material to minors from unsupervised vending machines.
Ferguson said he was “surprised and angry” over the committee vote because the bill was supported across the state by parent-teacher associations and by Los Angeles County and Orange County officials.
On Monday, the Newport Beach City Council endorsed the measure.
Opponents see the bill as an infringement on the right to free speech.
Ferguson admitted that his request for a vote before the entire Assembly is an uncommon one that is seen as an “insult,” but said he sees the bill’s vast support as a mandate.
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