This bill is part of the 2019 Cannabis Bills section of our ongoing update on California Cannabis Legislation – see the full California Cannabis Law Legislative Update which includes information on cannabis bills from other years.
SB 97 Cannabis: 2019-20 Budget Trailer Bills
The Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA), among other things, athorizes state cannabis licensing authorities to suspend, revoke, place on probation with terms and conditions, or otherwise discipline licenses issued by the licensing authority and fine a licensee, if the licensee is found to have committed any of the acts or omissions constituting grounds for disciplinary action. MAUCRSA makes a person engaging in commercial cannabis activity without a license required by MAUCRSA subject to civil penalties up to 3 times the amount of the license fee for each violation.
This bill would authorize a licensing authority to issue a citation to a licensee or unlicensed person for any act or omission that violates or has violated a provision of MAUCRSA or a regulation adopted pursuant to MAUCRSA.
MAUCRSA also establishes in state government a Cannabis Control Appeals Panel to review specified decisions of licensing authorities appealed by any person aggrieved by those decisions. The Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act requires, with specified exceptions for authorized closed sessions, that all meetings of a state body be open and public and all persons be permitted to attend any meeting of a state body.
This bill would specify that the Cannabis Control Appeals Panel is established in the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency. The bill would authorize the panel to hold a closed session for the purpose of holding a deliberative conference, as specified.
MAUCRSA, until January 1, 2019, authorized a state licensing authority to issue a temporary license if specified conditions were met. MAUCRSA, until January 1, 2020, authorizes a licensing authority, in its sole discretion, to issue a provisional license if the applicant holds or held a temporary license for the same premises and the same commercial activity to be authorized by the provisional license, and if the applicant has submitted a completed license application to the licensing authority, including evidence that compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act is underway. MAUCRSA requires a provisional license to be valid for 12 months from the date it was issued, and prohibits a provisional license from being renewed.
This bill would extend the repeal date for the provisional license provisions to January 1, 2022. The bill would delete the requirement for a provisional license that an applicant holds or held a temporary license. The bill would revise the requirement for a provisional license that the applicant has submitted a completed license application to include evidence that compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act or local cannabis ordinances is underway, if applicable, as specified. By adding requirements to provisional license applications, which are required to be signed under penalty of perjury, the bill would expand the scope of the crime of perjury, and would thereby impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require a provisional license to be valid for no more than 12 months from the date it was issued. The bill would authorize a licensing authority, in its sole discretion, to renew the provisional license until the licensing authority issues or denies the provisional license. If the licensing authority renews a provisional license, the bill would require the licensing authority to include the outstanding items needed to qualify for an annual license. The bill would authorize a licensing authority, in its sole discretion, to revoke or suspend a provisional license if the licensing authority determines the licensee failed to actively and diligently pursue requirements for an annual license. The bill would require a licensing authority to cancel a provisional license upon issuance of an annual license, denial of an annual license, abandonment of an application for licensure, or withdrawal of an application for licensure.
MAUCRSA requires, not later than January 1, 2021, the Department of Food and Agriculture to establish a program for cannabis comparable to the National Organic Program and the California Organic Food and Farming Act.
This bill, not later than July 1, 2021, would require the State Department of Public Health to establish a certification program for manufactured cannabis products comparable to the National Organic Program and the California Organic Food and Farming Act. The bill would remove the requirement that the Department of Food and Agriculture be the sole determiner of designation and certification, and would make the State Department of Public Health’s authority inoperative if the National Organic Program authorizes organic designation and certification for cannabis. The bill would prohibit a person from representing, selling, or offering for sale any cannabis or cannabis products as organic or with the designation or certification established by the Department of Food and Agriculture or the State Department of Public Health, except as provided.
MAUCRSA, until July 1, 2019, provides that the California Environmental Quality Act does not apply to the adoption of an ordinance, rule, or regulation by a local jurisdiction that requires discretionary review and approval of permits, licenses, or other authorizations to engage in commercial cannabis activity.
This bill would extend the repeal date of this provision to July 1, 2021.
MAUCRSA authorizes the bureau, upon request by a local jurisdiction, to provide technical assistance, as defined, to a local equity program that helps local equity applicants or local equity licensees.
This bill would remove the condition that a local jurisdiction request the technical assistance to a local equity program from the authorization of the bureau to provide the technical assistance. The bill would expand the purposes of the grant to include assisting a local jurisdiction in the development of a local equity program. The bill would require an eligible local jurisdiction that has a local equity program to include in its grant application the equity assessment that was used to inform the creation of the local equity program. The bill would expand the factors the bureau is required to consider when reviewing an equity program grant application, including, among others, how long the local jurisdiction has operated a local equity program and the outcomes of the program, if the local jurisdiction has adopted or operated a local equity program. The bill would delete the requirement that the bureau prorate funding if applications are greater than the amount appropriated for the program. The bill would expand the list of methods that grant funding is authorized to be used to assist local equity applicants and local equity licensees, including, among others, funding the creation of an equity assessment to inform the development of a local equity program and funding direct technical assistance to assist local equity applicants and local equity licensees. The bill would authorize the bureau to enter into an interagency agreement with the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development to administer on its behalf the provisions related to the review and granting of funding for cannabis equity programs.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Read more about California Cannabis Legislation – see the full California Cannabis Law Legislative Update.
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