The Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) , an initiative measure approved as Proposition 64 at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, and additionally amended by statute, imposes duties on the Bureau of Cannabis Control in the Department of Consumer Affairs, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the State Department of Public Health with respect to the creation, issuance, denial, suspension and revocation of commercial cannabis licenses, and imposes an excise tax commencing January 1, 2018, on the purchase of cannabis and cannabis products at the rate of 15% of the average market price of any retail sale by a cannabis retailer. Commencing January 1, 2018, AUMA also imposes a cultivation tax upon all cultivators on all harvested cannabis that enters the commercial market, at specified rates per dry-weight ounce of cannabis flowers and leaves. Existing law requires the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration to administer those taxes, and requires the revenues from those taxes to be deposited into the California Cannabis Tax Fund and to be continuously appropriated for specified purposes pursuant to a specified schedule. AUMA requires the Legislative Analyst's Office to submit a report to the Legislature by January 1, 2020, with recommendations for adjustments to the tax rate to achieve the goals of undercutting illicit market prices and discouraging use by persons younger than 21 years of age while ensuring sufficient revenues are generated for specified programs. AUMA authorizes the Legislature to amend its provisions with a 23 vote of both houses to further its purposes and intent. This bill would reduce that excise tax rate to 11% on and after the operative date of this bill until July 1, 2023, at which time the excise tax rate would revert back to 15%. The bill would suspend the imposition of the cultivation tax on and after the operative date of this bill until July 1, 2023. The bill would require the bureau, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration to provide the Legislature with reports measuring the success of this bill, as specified. This bill would make specified findings and declare that its provisions further the purposes and intent of the AUMA. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy, but its operative date would depend on its effective date.
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Existing case law, as established in the case of Dynamex Operations W. v. Superior Court (2018) 4 Cal.5th 903 (Dynamex) , creates a presumption that a worker who performs services for a hirer is an employee for purposes of claims for wages and benefits arising under wage orders issued by the Industrial Welfare Commission. Existing law requires a 3-part test, commonly known as the "ABC" test, to determine if workers are employees or independent contractors for those purposes. Existing statutory law establishes that, for purposes of the Labor Code, the Unemployment Insurance Code, and the wage orders of the Industrial Welfare Commission, a person providing labor or services for remuneration is considered an employee rather than an independent contractor unless the hiring entity demonstrates that the person is not an employee under the "ABC" test. Existing law charges the Labor Commissioner with the enforcement of labor laws, including worker classification. Existing law exempts specified occupations and business relationships from the application of the "ABC" test, including a business-to-business contracting relationship, that meets specified requirements, including that a business is a "contracting business" if it demonstrates that it meets specified criteria. Existing law, instead, provides that these exempt relationships are governed by the multifactor test previously established in the case of S. G. Borello & Sons, Inc. v. Department of Industrial Relations (1989) 48 Cal.3d 341. This bill would also include as a "contracting business" for purposes of a business-to-business contracting relationship, or business that subject to specified tax provisions relating to sale proprietorships on limited partnerships.
Existing law, as established in the case of Dynamex Operations W. v. Superior Court (2018) 4 Cal.5th 903 (Dynamex) , creates a presumption that a worker who performs services for a hirer is an employee for purposes of claims for wages and benefits arising under wage orders issued by the Industrial Welfare Commission. Existing law requires a 3-part test, commonly known as the "ABC" test, to determine if workers are employees or independent contractors for those purposes. Existing law establishes that, for purposes of the Labor Code, the Unemployment Insurance Code, and the wage orders of the Industrial Welfare Commission, a person providing labor or services for remuneration is considered an employee rather than an independent contractor unless the hiring entity demonstrates that the person is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, the person performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity's business, and the person is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business. Existing law charges the Labor Commissioner with the enforcement of labor laws, including worker classification. Existing law exempts specified occupations and business relationships from the application of Dynamex and the provisions described above, including various professional services provided by graphic designers, grant writers, and fine artists, among others. This bill would also exempt certified shorthand reporters from the application of Dynamex and the above provisions.
Existing law, the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) , approved by the voters at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, regulates the cultivation, distribution, transport, storage, manufacturing, testing, processing, sale, and use of cannabis for nonmedical purposes by people 21 years of age and older. The existing Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA) , among other things, consolidates the licensure and regulation of commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis activities. AUMA authorizes the Legislature to amend its provisions with a 23 vote of both houses to further its purposes and intent. Existing law establishes the State Department of Public Health as the licensing authority for cannabis manufacturers and requires the department, among other things, to promulgate regulations governing the licensing of cannabis manufacturers and standards for manufacturing, packaging, and labeling of all manufactured cannabis products. Existing law also establishes testing requirements for batches of cannabis to be sold at retail. This bill, on or before January 1, 2022, would amend AUMA to require the department to establish a Good Cannabis Manufacturing Practice Certification, as specified, which could be obtained by specified manufacturers to test representative samples of batches of cannabis products instead of requiring testing of each batch. The bill would provide for doubled fines for a certificate holder who distributes contaminated cannabis products and would require the department to inspect certificate holders at least twice each year to verify compliance with the certificate program terms. This bill would make specified findings and declare that its provisions further the purposes and intent of AUMA.
This measure would declare March 5, 2020, as Family Justice Center Day in California and would recognize the lifesaving and hope-giving work of the California Family Justice Center Network and its member Family Justice Centers as they work with rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters, human trafficking agencies, prosecutors' offices, law enforcement agencies, and other professionals and community-based organizations to ensure that adult and child survivors of trauma can access all of their services in one setting.
This measure would recognize March 7, 2020, as California Arbor Day, and would urge California residents to observe the day with appropriate tree-planting activities and programs.
The Personal Income Tax Law and Corporation Tax Law allow various credits against the taxes imposed by that law. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax credit to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives the tax credit will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would allow a credit against those taxes for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2021, and before January 1, 2026, in an amount that is equal to either 40% or 25% of the amount paid or incurred by a qualified taxpayer during the taxable year for qualified first-year wages of qualified employees, depending on the amount of hours worked by the qualified employee during the first year of employment, not to exceed $2,400 per qualified employee. The bill would define "qualified employee" to mean an employee who is hired on or after January 1, 2021, and who is a homeless youth, foster youth, or former foster youth, as those terms are defined. The bill would also include additional information required for any bill authorizing a new income tax credit. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law generally provides that everyone is responsible, not only for the result of their willful acts, but also for an injury occasioned to another by that person's want of ordinary care or skill in the management of their property or person, except as specified. This bill would exempt an entity organized and operating exclusively for religious purposes as a place of worship from civil liability for an injury occurring on its premises and resulting from the provision of services to homeless persons, unless the injury results from gross negligence or intentional misconduct.