This section is part of our ongoing update on California Cannabis Legislation – see the full California Cannabis Law Legislative Update.
California Cannabis Bills Introduced in the California Legislature in 2019
Many new bills were introduced in the California Legislature in 2019 which will impact California cannabis businesses and state marijuana policy. Sept. 13 was the last day for any bill to be passed in 2019. Oct. 13 was the last day for the Governor to sign or veto bills passed by the Legislature on or before Sept. 13 and in the Governor’s possession after Sept. 13.
These are the significant cannabis bills proposed in the California Legislature in 2019. Under each cannabis bill is an explanation of existing law and what that bill would do. Each bill contains a link to the official California Legislative Information website page for that bill (where readers can get more info on the bill including the actual text, votes, history, bill analysis, status, and more).
Highlights of the 2019 California Cannabis Law Legislative Update
Lawmakers proposed over 40 new cannabis laws in 2019 ranging from a reduction in cannabis taxes (AB 286) to the creation of a new cannabis consumption cafe/lounge license (AB 1465). (Note: Both bills died.)
AB 1525 is a potential safe harbor for financial institutions and accountants providing services to the cannabis industry. (Note: This bill passed the Senate and Assembly and was signed by the Governor.)
SB 67 limits the approval of appellations of origin for cannabis unless it requires the practice of planting in the ground in the canopy area and excludes the practices of using structures and any artificial light in the canopy area. It also requires the establishment of standards by which a licensed cultivator may designate a city or city and county of origin for cannabis produced 100% within the designated city or city and county. (Note: This bill passed the Senate and Assembly, was signed by the Governor, and takes effect immediately as an urgency statute.)
California legislative bills were introduced to make cannabis testing more practical (AB 404, AB 1458, AB 1461, and AB 1470). (Note: AB 404 and AB 1458 passed the Senate and Assembly and were signed by the Governor; AB 1461 died; AB 1470 passed the Senate and Assembly but was vetoed by the Governor.)
AB 545 would subject the Bureau of Cannabis Control to a comprehensive review by the Joint Sunset Review Committee, a legislative committee comprised of 10 Members of the Legislature, to identify and eliminate waste, duplication, and inefficiency in government agencies. (Note: This bill passed the Senate and Assembly and was vetoed by the Governor.)
As of the end of July 2019, all California state temporary cannabis licenses had expired. With the passage of California Budget Trailer Bills AB 97 and SB 97, however, the rules for provisional cannabis licenses changed. The requirement for a provisional cannabis license that an applicant holds or held a temporary license was deleted. It is now possible to get a California state provisional commercial cannabis license if an applicant has submitted a completed annual state cannabis license application and the applicant is in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act and has completed, or is in the process of completing, compliance with local ordinances (i.e., local city or county cannabis permit). These California Budget Trailer Bills became effective immediately and also included provisions for assisting local equity grants, as well as penalties against unlicensed cannabis activity.
AB 1529 was amended as an urgency bill to change the size requirement of the universal symbol as it pertains to vape cartridges, to be no less than 0.25″ x 0.25″ (rather than the current requirement of 0.5″ x 0.5″). The larger universal symbol is difficult to automate in the manufacturing process. (Note: This bill passed the Senate and Assembly with an urgency clause adopted and was signed by the Governor.)
The federal 2018 Farm Bill opened up the hemp industry and SB 153 attempts to make sure California is ready for hemp production and submits a state hemp regulatory plan to the Secretary of Food and Agriculture (USDA). The deadline in the bill for the state to submit its hemp plan was originally January 31, 2020, but was changed to May 1, 2020. (Note: This bill passed the Senate and Assembly and was signed by the Governor.)
In a nod to the CBD market, AB 228 would prohibit restrictions on the sale of food, beverages, or cosmetics that include industrial hemp or cannabinoids, extracts, or derivatives from industrial hemp. (Note: This bill passed the Senate Appropriations Committee but was held under submission.)
AB 37 allows state tax deductions for cannabis business expenses despite federal disallowance of such deductions. (Note: This bill passed the Senate and Assembly and was signed by the Governor.)
AB 1291 requires cannabis license applicants to agree to enter into a labor peace agreement within 60 days of employing 20 employees. (Note: This bill passed the Senate and Assembly and was signed by the Governor.)
SB 34 allows free cannabis donations to medicinal cannabis patients without the burden of certain cannabis taxes. (Note: This bill passed the Senate and Assembly and was signed by the Governor.)
Jojo’s Act returned with SB 223 which authorizes school districts to set a policy that allows a parent or guardian of a pupil to possess and administer to the pupil medicinal cannabis at a schoolsite. (Note: This bill passed the Senate and Assembly and was signed by the Governor.)
SB 185 applies the same prohibitions against misrepresentation of “county of origin” to misuse of appellations of origin and prohibits use of names that are likely to mislead consumers. (Note: This bill passed the Senate and Assembly and was signed by the Governor.)
SB 595 requires a state licensing authority, on or before January 1, 2021, to develop and implement a program to provide a deferral or waiver of a cannabis application fee, cannabis licensing fee, or cannabis renewal fee for a needs-based applicant or needs-based licensee. (Note: This bill passed the Senate and Assembly and was signed by the Governor.)
SB 305 (Ryan’s Law) would have required a health care facility to allow a terminally ill patient to use medical cannabis within the health care facility. (Note: This bill passed the Senate and Assembly and was vetoed by the Governor.)
In a bill backed by cities and counties, AB 1530 would authorize a local jurisdiction to restrict or ban local delivery of cannabis products. (Note: This bill died.)
AB 1417 was squarely aimed at Weedmaps and cannabis advertising. The BCC told Weedmaps to stop advertising unlicensed cannabis businesses. Weedmaps responded that it is an “interactive computer service” protected by the federal Communications Decency Act (i.e., Weedmaps is generally not responsible for content). (Note: This bill passed the Senate Appropriations Committee but was held under submission.)
AB 1356 would require a local jurisdiction to issue a minimum number of local cannabis licenses authorizing adult-use or medicinal retail cannabis commercial activity within that jurisdiction if more than 50% of the electorate of a local jurisdiction voted in favor of AUMA (this modified bill previously addressed annual reports by cannabis licensing authorities). (Note: This bill died – it passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee but was then ordered to the inactive file at the request of the author Assembly Member Ting.)
In an attempt to alleviate some of the cannabis banking issues, SB 51 would create the Cannabis Limited Charter Banking and Credit Union Law as well as the Cannabis Limited Charter Bank and Credit Union Advisory Board. (Note: This bill passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee but was ordered to the inactive file on request of Assembly Member Calderon.)
AB 1639 would, among other things, create various advertising, promotion, packaging, and selling prohibitions on electronic cigarettes in California. It would also prohibit a licensed cannabis retailer from selling an artificially-flavored vapor product. The bill would prohibit the use of flavors not derived from the cannabis plant or other natural botanical sources or flavors derived or synthesized from tobacco in the production of cannabis products that can be used to deliver cannabis to a person in aerosolized or vaporized form. (Note: This bill is in committee.)
AB 1678 would create the Indoor-Grown Cannabis Commission funded by assessments on all indoor cultivators. (Note: This bill died.)
Who is up for paying cannabis taxes using “stablecoins” (AB 953)? (Note: This bill is in committee.)
SB 475 would allow free cannabis trade samples to be given to an employee or another licensee. (Note: This bill passed the Assembly Business and Professions Committee and was set for hearing which was canceled at the request of author.)
SB 627 recognizes that pets may also benefit from a cannabis prescription. (Note: This bill is in committee held under submersion.)
Details about these and other California cannabis bills are set forth below.
Index of All California Cannabis Bills
AB 3 (Cooper D) Cannabis: Adolescent Cannabis Prevention Fund; AB 37 (Jones-Sawyer D) Personal income taxes: deductions: business expenses: commercial cannabis activity; AB 97 Cannabis: 2019-20 Budget Trailer Bills; AB 228 (Aguiar-Curry D) Food, beverage, and cosmetic adulterants: industrial hemp products; AB 286 (Bonta D) Taxation: cannabis; AB 397 (Chau D) Vehicles: driving under the influence: statistics; AB 404 (Stone, Mark D) Commercial cannabis activity: testing laboratories; AB 420 (Lackey R) The California Cannabis Research Program; AB 545 (Low D) Cannabis: Bureau of Cannabis Control: Cannabis Control Appeals Panel; AB 607 (Carrillo D) Probation: eligibility: crimes relating to controlled substances; AB 717 (Nazarian D) Public contracts: armored courier services; AB 833 (Lackey R) Cannabis transportation: safety requirements; AB 858 (Levine D) Cannabis: cultivation; AB 953 (Ting D) Cannabis: state and local taxes: payment by digital asset; AB 1085 (McCarty D) After school programs: substance use prevention: funding: cannabis revenue; AB 1098 (O’Donnell D) Substance use disorders: youth programs; AB 1288 (Cooley D) Cannabis: track and trace; AB 1291 (Jones-Sawyer D) Adult-use cannabis and medicinal cannabis: license application: labor peace agreements; AB 1356 (Ting D) Cannabis: local jurisdictions: retail commercial cannabis activity; AB 1417 (Rubio, Blanca D) Cannabis advertisement and marketing: internet: license number: statements: unfair business practice: public nuisance; AB 1420 (Obernolte R) Cannabis: licensing fees; AB 1458 (Quirk D) Cannabis testing laboratories; AB 1461 (Quirk D) Cannabis: testing laboratories; AB 1465 (Bloom D) Cannabis: consumption cafe/lounge license; AB 1470 (Quirk D) Cannabis testing; AB 1525 (Jones-Sawyer D) Cannabis: financial institutions; AB 1529 (Low D) Cannabis vaporizing cartridges: universal symbol; AB 1530 (Cooley D) Unauthorized cannabis activity reduction grants: local jurisdiction restrictions on cannabis delivery; AB 1569 (Jones-Sawyer D) Sales and use tax: medicinal cannabis: veterans; AB 1624 (Rivas, Robert D) School climate: surveys: report; AB 1639 (Gray D) Tobacco and cannabis products; AB 1678 (Carrillo D) Indoor-Grown Cannabis Commission; AB 1710 (Wood D) Cannabis; SB 34 (Wiener D) Cannabis: donations; SB 51 (Hertzberg D) Financial institutions: cannabis; SB 67 (McGuire D) Cannabis: temporary licenses; SB 97 Cannabis: 2019-20 Budget Trailer Bills; SB 153 (Wilk R) Industrial hemp; SB 185 (McGuire D) Cannabis: marketing; SB 223 (Hill D) Pupil health: administration of medicinal cannabis: schoolsites; SB 305 (Hueso D) Access to Cannabis in Healthcare Facilities Act; SB 475 (Skinner D) Cannabis: trade samples: cultivation tax: exemption; SB 527 (Caballero D) Local government: Williamson Act: cultivation of cannabis; SB 581 (Caballero D) Cannabis: licensing: public records; SB 595 (Bradford D) Cannabis: local equity programs: state fee waivers; SB 625 (Hill D) Party buses: cannabis; SB 627 (Galgiani D) Medicinal cannabis and medicinal cannabis products: veterinary medicine; SB 657 (Monning D) Cannabis cultivation: county agricultural commissioners: reporting; SB 658 (Bradford D) Cannabis: licensing: cannabis retail business emblem: track and trace; SB 684 (Umberg D) Traffic safety: driving under the influence of cannabis pilot program.
Read more about California Cannabis Legislation – see the full California Cannabis Law Legislative Update.
Contact us by phone or email to learn more about California cannabis law including state, county or city cannabis licensing and cannabis regulations, cannabis regulatory compliance, and cannabis litigation.