(Updated 8/26) Help Make Our California Dream a Reality for AB 45!

8/26 Update from Rand Martin, U.S. Hemp Roundtable’s lobbyist in Sacramento—

AB 45 (Aguiar-Curry) passed a major milestone today when the Senate Appropriations Committee passed the bill unanimously (7-0). It now moves to the Senate Floor, to be heard before the Legislature adjourns for the year on September 10.

We continue to negotiate with Governor Newsom on integrating cannabis licensees and permitting inhalable products. Discussions have been productive and should be resolved within the next few days.

If you live or do business in California, please continue using our State Action Center to urge your state Senators and Assemblypersons to support AB 45!

A note from Rand Martin, the U.S. Hemp Roundtable’s lobbyist in Sacramento:

AB 45, which has received unanimous votes in two separate votes so far in the Senate, is currently pending on the Suspense File in the Senate Appropriations Committee. All bills with a notable fiscal impact sit on the Suspense File until all bills are heard, so that bills that are heard in Appropriations late in the process are not disadvantaged. The Suspense File is taken up in a single hearing on the day of the Legislature’s fiscal deadline. In this case, the Suspense hearing will be held on August 27. Decisions about which bills pass Suspense are made by Senate leadership; we are guardedly optimistic that the bill will pass off Suspense because the Senate version of the bill, SB 235, passed off Suspense in May.

A number of proposed amendments are still under discussion with the Administration. Most of these amendments are solid, clean-up and clarifying amendments but would not have a substantial impact on the primary objectives of the bill. However, two substantive issues remain unresolved with the Administration: allowing cannabis licensees to participate in the hemp CBD supply chain and legalizing inhalable hemp CBD products. We are still pushing the Administration to allow both of these issues to be added to the bill, but it is uncertain at this time whether the Administration will agree.

Once AB 45 passes Senate Appropriations, it will move to the Senate floor for vote by the full Senate, where it will need a 2/3 vote so that the law can go into effect the day after the Governor signs it. After the Senate Floor, the bill must return to the Assembly so that the Assembly can vote to concur in amendments that were made in the Senate; a 2/3 vote will be required there as well. All of this must be completed by the time the Legislature adjourns for the year on September 10. The Governor will then have until October 10 to take action on the bill.

If you live in California, help us get this through the Senate by using our State Action Center to urge your state Senators and Assemblypersons to support for AB 45. If you don’t live in California, please share this message with all of your friends, colleagues, customers, and social media contacts located in the state. Help us build our Hemp Supporter armies to assist us in these battles, which have a national impact!