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 2020
These are the significant cannabis bills proposed in the California Legislature in 2020. 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).
August 31, was the last day for any bill to be passed in 2020. September 30, 2020, was the last day for the Governor to sign or veto bills passed by the Legislature before September 1 and in the Governor’s possession on or after September 1 .
Highlights of the 2020 California Cannabis Law Legislative Update
Lawmakers proposed over 20 new cannabis laws in 2020 addressing a range of topics including cannabis taxes, fines and penalties, cannabis employment discrimination, local cannabis ordinances, cannabis testing, cannabis in schools, cannabis for terminally ill patients in health care facilities, and the reporting of state hemp cultivation information to federal authorities.
AB 1872 would prohibit the cannabis cultivation tax imposed in the 2021 calendar year from being adjusted for inflation, and would prohibit an increase in the mark-up amount of the cannabis excise tax commencing January 1, 2018, on the purchase of cannabis and cannabis products. (Note: This bill passed the Senate and Assembly, was signed by the Governor, and takes effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.)
SB 1244 would authorize a licensed testing laboratory to receive and test samples of cannabis or cannabis products from a state or local law enforcement, or a prosecuting or regulatory agency in order to test the cannabis or cannabis products. (Note: This bill passed the Senate and Assembly and was signed by the Governor.)
AB 1948 would reduce the excise tax rate on cannabis and cannabis products to 11% until July 1, 2023, at which time the excise tax rate would revert back to 15%. This bill would suspend the imposition of the cultivation tax until July 1, 2023. (This bill is in committee.)
AB 2094 would authorize a licensing authority under MAUCRSA to impose an administrative fine of up to $30,000 per violation against a person who violates the prohibition on renting, leasing, or making available a building, room, space, or enclosure for the purpose of unlawfully manufacturing, distributing, or selling cannabis. The bill would make each day the violation continues a separate violation for this purpose. (This bill is in committee.)
AB 2122 would impose a civil penalty on persons aiding and abetting unlicensed commercial cannabis activity of up to $30,000 for each violation. (This bill is in committee.)
AB 2355 would make it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to refuse to select a person for a training program, or to bar or to discharge a person from employment or from a training program leading to employment, or to discriminate against an employee, because of the employee’s status as a medical cannabis qualified patient. The bill would grant people who use medical cannabis while employed the same rights to reasonable accommodation and the associated interactive process as are provided to workers prescribed other legal drugs under this section, subject to specified requirements (unless the employer requires all employees and job applicants to be drug and alcohol free for legitimate safety reasons). (This bill is in committee.)
AB 2456 would require the Bureau of Cannabis Control to develop a model local ordinance, and to make the model local ordinance publicly available on its internet website. (This bill is in committee.)
AB 2548 would amend AUMA to require the department to establish a Good Cannabis Manufacturing Practice Certification which could be obtained by specified manufacturers to test representative samples of batches of cannabis products instead of requiring testing of each batch. (This bill is in committee.)
AB 2749 would require the bureau, on or before January 1, 2022, to establish specific testing standards for all specified compounds and contaminants. The bill would also require the bureau to post a notification on its internet website when a licensed testing laboratory is prohibited for more than 45 days from issuing certificates of analysis and to remove that notification immediately upon reinstatement. (This bill is in committee.)
AB 2827 would state that a food or beverage is not adulterated by the inclusion of industrial hemp products, including cannabidiol derived from industrial hemp, and would prohibit restrictions on the sale of food or beverages that include industrial hemp products or cannabidiol derived from industrial hemp based solely on the inclusion of industrial hemp products or cannabidiol derived from industrial hemp. (This bill is in committee.)
AB 3124 would provide an exemption from certain taxes for the sale of, or the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of, medical cannabis or medical cannabis product purchased by a qualified patient. (This bill is in committee.)
AB 3180 would authorize a school of a school district or county office of education or a charter school to permanently confiscate and immediately dispose of a tobacco product or cannabis product taken from a pupil while the pupil is on campus, attending a school-sponsored activity, or under the supervision and control of a school employee. (This bill is in committee.)
SB 864 would require the Department of Food and Agriculture to report to the Farm Service Agency of the United States Department of Agriculture information regarding all hemp production in the state, and would require that laboratory test reports of hemp include the measurement of uncertainty associated with the test results. (This bill is in committee.)
SB 1216 would prohibit specified types of health care facilities from prohibiting or interfering with a terminally ill patient’s use of medicinal cannabis within the health care facility, and would authorize a health care facility to reasonably restrict the manner in which a patient stores and uses medicinal cannabis. (This bill is in committee.)
Index of All California Cannabis Bills
AB 1872 (Committee on Budget) Cannabis; AB 1948 (Bonta D) Taxation: cannabis; AB 2094 (Jones-Sawyer D) Cannabis: facilities used for unlawful purposes; AB 2122 (Rubio, Blanca D) Unlawful cannabis activity: enforcement; AB 2312 (Quirk D) Cannabis; AB 2355 (Bonta D) Employment discrimination: medical cannabis; AB 2412 (Carrillo D) Pupil discipline: suspensions and expulsions; AB 2437 (Quirk D) Civil actions: statute of limitations; AB 2448 (Lackey R) California Cannabis Research Program: impact of cannabis on motor skills study; AB 2456 (Ting D) Cannabis: model local ordinance; AB 2548 (Lackey R) Cannabis: good manufacturing practice certification; AB 2716 (Irwin D) Cannabis: advertisements: highways; AB 2721 (Cooper D) Cannabis Control Appeals Panel: membership; AB 2749 (Stone, Mark D) Cannabis: quality assurance and testing; AB 2827 (Aguiar-Curry D) Food, beverage, and cosmetic adulterants: industrial hemp products; AB 2842 (McCarty D) Cannabis retailers: delivery: vehicles; AB 3090 (Ting D) Cannabis taxes: payment using stablecoins: report; AB 3124 (Lackey R) Sales and use tax: medicinal cannabis; AB 3180 (Gabriel D) Pupils: tobacco and cannabis products: confiscation; AB 3192 (Cooper D) California Cannabis Equity Act; SB 864 (Wilk R) Industrial hemp: reporting of hemp production: laboratory test reports; SB 1216 (Hueso D) Compassionate Access to Medical Cannabis Act or Ryan’s Law; SB 1244 (Bradford D) Cannabis testing laboratories; SB 1294 (Bradford D) The California Cannabis Equity Act; SB 1429 (Monning D) Production or cultivation of cannabis, cannabis products, or industrial hemp: environmental violations.
Read more about California Cannabis Legislation – see the full California Cannabis Law Legislative Update.
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