ENGROSSED HOUSE BILL 1756

ByRepresentatives Orwall, Mosbrucker, Appleton, Frame, Goodman, Lovick, Gregerson, Sells, Davis, Doglio, and Ormsby

AN ACT Relating to safety and security of adult entertainers; and adding a new section to chapter 49.17 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 49.17 RCW to read as follows:

(1)(a) The department shall develop or contract for the development of training for entertainers. The training must include, but not be limited to:

(i) Education about the rights and responsibilities of entertainers, including with respect to working as an employee or independent contractor;

(ii) Reporting of workplace injuries, including sexual and physical abuse and sexual harassment;

(iii) The risk of human trafficking;

(iv) Financial aspects of the entertainer profession; and

(v) Resources for assistance.

(b) As a condition of receiving or renewing an adult entertainer license issued by a local government, an entertainer must provide proof that the entertainer took the training described in (a) of this subsection.

(2) An adult entertainment establishment must provide a panic button in each room in the establishment in which an entertainer may be alone with a customer, and in bathrooms and dressing rooms. An entertainer may use the panic button if the entertainer has been harmed, reasonably believes there is a risk of harm, or there is an other emergency in the entertainer's presence. The entertainer may cease work and leave the immediate area to await the arrival of assistance.

(3)(a) An adult entertainment establishment must record the accusations it receives that a customer has committed an act of violence, including assault, sexual assault, or sexual harassment, towards an entertainer. The establishment must make every effort to obtain the customer's name and if the establishment cannot determine the name, it must record as much identifying information about the customer as is reasonably possible. The establishment must retain a record of the customer's identifying information for at least five years after the most recent accusation.

(b) If an accusation is supported by a statement made under penalty of perjury or other evidence, the adult entertainment establishment must decline to allow the customer to return to the establishment for at least three years after the date of the incident. The establishment must share the information about the customer with other establishments with common ownership and those establishments with common ownership must also decline to allow the customer to enter those establishments for at least three years after the date of the incident. No entertainer may be required to provide such a statement.

(4) For the purposes of enforcement, except for subsection (1) of this section, this section shall be considered a safety or health standard under this chapter.

(5) This section does not affect an employer's responsibility to provide a place of employment free from recognized hazards or to otherwise comply with this chapter and other employment laws.

(6) The department shall convene an entertainer advisory committee to assist with the implementation of this section, including the elements of the training under subsection (1) of this section. At least half of the advisory committee members must be former entertainers who held or current entertainers who have held an adult entertainer license issued by a local government for at least five years. The advisory committee shall also consider whether additional measures would increase the safety and security of entertainers, such as by examining ways to make the procedures described in subsection (3) of this section more effective and reviewing the fee structure for entertainers. If the advisory committee finds and recommends additional measures that would increase the safety and security of entertainers and that those additional measures would require legislative action, the department must report those recommendations to the appropriate committees of the legislature.

(7) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(a) "Adult entertainment" means any exhibition, performance, or dance of any type conducted in a premises where such exhibition, performance, or dance involves an entertainer who:

(i) Is unclothed or in such attire, costume, or clothing as to expose to view any portion of the breast below the top of the areola or any portion of the pubic region, anus, buttocks, vulva, or genitals; or

(ii) Touches, caresses, or fondles the breasts, buttocks, anus, genitals, or pubic region of another person, or permits the touching, caressing, or fondling of the entertainer's own breasts, buttocks, anus, genitals, or pubic region by another person, with the intent to sexually arouse or excite another person.

(b) "Adult entertainment establishment" or "establishment" means any business to which the public, patrons, or members are invited or admitted where an entertainer provides adult entertainment to a member of the public, a patron, or a member.

(c) "Entertainer" means any person who provides adult entertainment within an adult entertainment establishment, whether or not a fee is charged or accepted for entertainment and whether or not the person is an employee under RCW 49.17.020.

(d) "Panic button" means an emergency contact device by which the entertainer may summon immediate on-scene assistance from another entertainer, a security guard, or a representative of the entertainment establishment.

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