2020 has been a year of compounding crises and policy reform setbacks, and the priority legislation that we focused on in the beginning of the year drastically changed by the end of the legislative session. Now that the 2019-2020 California Legislative Session has come to a close, we are pleased to report that a number of cannabis bills have passed the Legislature and are on their way to the Governor’s desk.

• No Tax Increases - AB 1872 (Committee on Budget): Ensures stability for the cannabis industry going into 2021 by suspending the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration’s authority to raise cultivation taxes and the excise tax mark-up rate for one year.
• Higher Testing Variances - AB 1458 (Quirk): Raises the label variance threshold for edible products from plus or minus 10% to plus or minus 12% until January 1, 2022.
• Pre-Final Form Testing - AB 1470 (Quirk): Redefines “final form” for purposes of cannabis testing, to clarify that products can be tested without being in their final retail packaging. This will not only allow for batch testing of such products such as flower and edibles.
• Banking Assistance - AB 1525 (Jones-Sawyer): Allows cannabis licensees to authorize data sharing between a specific financial institution and licensing agencies, thus making it easier for financial institutions to bank with cannabis businesses in California.
• Appellations Clarity - SB 67 (McGuire): Ensures that cannabis used to create cannabis products from a recognized “appellation of origin”, as defined by the Department of Food and Agriculture, was planted in the ground, and grown without the use of a structure, and without the use of artificial lighting in the canopy area.
• Testing Pathway for Enforcement - SB 1244 (Bradford): Aids local agencies in enforcing against illicit cannabis activities by making clear that cannabis testing laboratories may receive and test samples from any local or state law enforcement agency or regulatory body.