Existing law, 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, authorizes a person who obtains a state license under AUMA to engage in commercial adult-use cannabis activity pursuant to that license and applicable local ordinances. Existing law, the 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, and requires the Department of Cannabis Control to administer its provisions. Under MAUCRSA, the Department of Cannabis Control has sole authority to license and regulate commercial cannabis activity, which MAUCRSA defines to include, among other activities, the sale of cannabis and cannabis products. Existing law, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) , requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. MAUCRSA exempts the adoption of an ordiance, rule, or regulation by a local jurisdiction that requires discretionary review and approval of permits, licenses, or other authorizations to engage in commercial exemption if the discretionary review includes any applicable environmental review pursuant to CEQA. This bill would provide that CEQA does not apply to the issuance of a state license for a project to engage in commercial cannabis activity if the appropriate local jurisdiction has (1) approved the project, either adopted a negative declaration or mitigated negative declaration for the project or certified an environmental impact report for the project, and filed a notice of determination, or (2) approved the project following a determination that the project complies with a local ordinance governing commercial cannabis activity for which an environmental impact report has been certified and the project does not result in an impact that was not analyzed in that environmental impact report. The bill, in order to qualify for the exemption, would require the local jurisdiction's determination on the project or local ordinance to be final and not the subject of pending judicial review, as described.
Sponsored bills
Existing law provides that, with certain exceptions, any person who, within this state, manufactures or causes to be manufactured, distributes, transports, or imports into the state, keeps for sale, or offers or exposes for sale, or who gives or lends any assault weapon or any .50 BMG rifle, as defined, is guilty of a felony. Existing law also provides that, subject to certain exceptions, a person, corporation, or dealer who sells, supplies, delivers, or gives possession of a firearm precursor part, as defined, is guilty of a crime. This bill would create a private right of action for any person against any person who, within this state, (1) manufactures or causes to be manufactured, distributes, transports, or imports into the state, or causes to be distributed or transported or imported into the state, keeps for sale or offers or exposes for sale, or gives or lends any firearm lacking a serial number required by law, assault weapon, or .50 BMG rifle; (2) purchases, sells, offers to sell, or transfers ownership of any firearm precursor part that is not a federally regulated firearm precursor part; or (3) is a licensed firearms dealer and sells, supplies, delivers, or gives possession or control of a firearm to any person under 21 years of age, all subject to certain exceptions, as specified. The bill would make these provisions inoperative upon invalidation of a specified law in Texas, and would repeal its provisions on January 1 of the following year. This bill would also state that all statutes regulating or prohibiting firearms shall not be construed to repeal any other statute regulating or prohibiting firearms, in whole or in part, unless the statute specifically states that it is repealing another statute. The bill would state that every statute that regulates or prohibits firearms is severable in each application to any particular person or circumstance and that any statute found to be unconstitutional by a court shall remain enforceable as to any application that would not be unconstitutional.
Existing law requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to design, develop, and construct the state-owned and state-operated California Central Coast State Veterans Cemetery at Fort Ord and to oversee and coordinate the design, development, construction, and equipping of the veterans cemetery. Existing law establishes the California Coast State Veterans Cemetery at Fort Ord Endowment Fund, to be allocated, upon appropriation, to the department for nonreimbursable costs of design, construction, and annual operation of the veterans cemetery. Existing law requires the Controller, after consultation with the department, to annually report on the status of the Endowment Fund, as specified. This bill would remove the requirement that the Controller annually report on the status of the Endowment Fund. The bill would additionally remove obsolete provisions regarding the construction of the cemetery.
Existing law, the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000, provides the authority and procedures for the initiation, conduct, and completion of changes of organization and reorganization of cities and districts by local agency formation commissions. Existing law creates the Pajaro Valley Health Care District, as specified, and authorizes the Pajaro Valley Health Care District to be organized, incorporated, and managed, only if the relevant county board of supervisors chooses to appoint an initial board of directors. Existing law requires, within 5 years of the date of the first meeting of the Board of Directors of the Pajaro Valley Health Care District, the board of directors to divide the district into zones and number the zones consecutively. Existing law requires the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000 to govern any organizational changes for the district after formation. Existing law requires the district to notify the County of Santa Cruz local agency formation commission (LAFCO) when the district, or any other entity, acquires the Watsonville Community Hospital. Existing law requires the LAFCO to dissolve the district under certain circumstances. This bill would require the LAFCO to develop and determine a sphere of influence for the district within one year of the district's date of formation, and to conduct a municipal service review regarding health care provision in the district by December 31, 2025, and by December 31 every 5 years thereafter. The bill also would require the district to annually report to the commission regarding health care provision in the district in 2023 and 2024, as specified.
The California Constitution declares that defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy are inalienable rights, and that a person may not be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law or equal protection of the laws. Existing law, the Reproductive Privacy Act, declares that every individual possesses a fundamental right of privacy with respect to personal reproductive decisions and prohibits the state from denying or interfering with a person's right to choose or obtain an abortion before viability of the fetus, or when the abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the person. This measure would amend the California Constitution to prohibit the state from denying or interfering with an individual's reproductive freedom in their most intimate decisions, which includes their fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and their fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptives.
Existing law requires the Governor to proclaim various days as holidays and days of remembrance. This bill would require the Governor to annually proclaim November 20 as Transgender Day of Remembrance
This measure would recognize the essential role that museums have in California as educational institutions and would proclaim May 2022 as Museum Month in California.
This measure would proclaim and recognize the last full week of September 2022, September 18 to September 24, inclusive, as the 20th Anniversary of Sea Otter Awareness Week and would urge all Californians to appreciate the ecological, economic, and symbolic value of sea otters along California's coastal waters and to support protections for the sea otter and the coastal waters in which it lives.
The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act prescribes labeling requirements for containers of alcoholic beverages sold within this state, including those imposed on wines labeled with an American Viticultural Area, as established pursuant to federal law, that is located entirely within specified areas. The act generally provides that a violation of its provisions is a misdemeanor if not otherwise specified. This bill would require any wine bottled on or after January 1, 2024, labeled with an American Viticultural Area established pursuant to federal law that is located entirely within the "Santa Cruz Mountains" viticultural area to bear the designation "Santa Cruz Mountains" on the label in specified type sizes that are determined in relation to the size of the container. The bill would except from this requirement any wine labeled with a viticultural area appellation of origin, as specified, when the name of the appellation includes the term "Santa Cruz Mountains." The bill would authorize the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to suspend or revoke the license of a person who violates these provisions, but would otherwise exempt a violation from civil or criminal penalties.