Sen. Scott Wilk

This measure would recognize March 14, 2019, as California Attractions and Parks Day, and would declare that the Legislature intends to take actions to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the California Attractions and Parks Association and celebrate the organization's important role and many contributions to California's tourism industry through its promotion, support, and sponsorship of a wide variety of activities and programs at attractions and parks throughout the state.

This measure would honor the late former President George H.W. Bush and dedicate June 12, 2019, and every June 12 thereafter, as President George H.W. Bush Day.

This measure would recognize March 1, 2019, as Read Across America Day, and would call upon all Californians to observe this day by participating in appropriate ceremonies and activities.

The California Constitution grants the retirement board of a public employee retirement system plenary authority and fiduciary responsibility for investment of moneys and administration of the retirement fund and system. The California Constitution qualifies this grant of powers by reserving to the Legislature the authority to prohibit investments if it is in the public interest and the prohibition satisfies standards of fiduciary care and loyalty required of a retirement board. Existing law prohibits the boards of administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System and State Teachers' Retirement System from making investments in certain countries and in thermal coal companies, as specified, subject to the boards' plenary authority and fiduciary responsibility for investment of moneys and administration of the systems. This bill, upon the passage of a federal law that imposes sanctions on Turkey for failure to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, would prohibit the boards of administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System and State Teachers' Retirement System from making additional or new investments, or renewing existing investments, of public employee retirement funds in an investment vehicle in Turkey that is issued by the government of Turkey or that is owned, controlled, or managed by the government of Turkey. The bill would require the boards to liquidate existing investments in Turkey in these types of investment vehicles within 6 months of the passage of a federal law imposing those sanctions on Turkey. The bill would require these boards, within one year of the passage of a federal law imposing those sanctions on Turkey, to make a specified report to the Legislature and the Governor regarding these actions. The bill would specify that its provisions do not require a board to take any action that the board determines in good faith is inconsistent with its constitutional fiduciary responsibilities to the retirement system. The bill would indemnify from the General Fund and hold harmless the present, former, and future board members, officers, and employees of, and investment managers under contract with, the boards, in connection with actions relating to these investments. The bill would repeal these provisions if a determination is made by the Department of State or the Congress of the United States, or another appropriate federal agency, that the government of Turkey has officially acknowledged its responsibility for the Armenian Genocide.

(1) 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. 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. Existing administrative law prohibits a retailer licensee from providing free cannabis goods to any person or allowing individuals who are not employed by the retailer to provide free cannabis goods to any person on the licensed premises. Existing administrative law provides an exception to this prohibition for specified medicinal retailer and microbusiness licensees to provide access to medicinal cannabis patients who have difficulty accessing medicinal cannabis goods, as specified. This bill would similarly authorize those specified licensees to provide free cannabis or cannabis products to a medical cannabis patient if specified requirements are met, including that the cannabis or cannabis products otherwise meet specified requirements of MAUCRSA. The bill would authorize those specified licensees to contract with an individual or organization to coordinate the provision of free medicinal cannabis and medicinal cannabis products on the retailer's premises. (2) Existing sales and use tax laws impose use taxes on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state, presumes tangible personal property purchased outside the state that is stored, used, or consumed in this state is purchased for use in this state, and excludes from use taxes, specified tangible personal property purchased and used for specified purposes. This bill, on or after January 1, 2019, and until January 1, 2024, would exempt from the use tax the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of medicinal cannabis or medicinal cannabis products that are donated, for no consideration, under specified circumstances. The bill would require the exemption to apply only if the donee certifies in writing, as specified, that the medicinal cannabis or medicinal cannabis product will be used as specified. The bill would make a licensee that uses the donated medicinal cannabis or medicinal cannabis product in some other manner, or for some other purpose, liable for the payment of use tax and would make the measure of tax the licensee's purchase price for similar product. The Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law authorizes counties and cities to impose local sales and use taxes in conformity with the Sales and Use Tax Law, and existing laws authorize districts, as specified, to impose transactions and use taxes in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which generally conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law. Amendments to the Sales and Use Tax Law are automatically incorporated into the local tax laws. Existing law requires the state to reimburse counties and cities for revenue losses caused by the enactment of sales and use tax exemptions. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding Section 2230 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse any local agencies for sales and use tax revenues lost by them pursuant to this bill. (3) AUMA imposes an excise tax on the purchase of cannabis and cannabis products, as defined, at the rate of 15% of the average market price of any retail sale by a cannabis retailer. The bill would require that these provisions not be construed to impose an excise tax upon medicinal cannabis, or medicinal cannabis products, donated for no consideration to a medicinal cannabis patient, as specified. (4) AUMA imposes a cultivation tax on all harvested cannabis that enters the commercial market upon all cultivators. Existing law defines entering the commercial market to mean cannabis or cannabis products, except for immature cannabis plants and seeds, that complete and comply with specified quality assurance review and testing. This bill would prohibit the cultivation tax from being imposed on medicinal cannabis designated for donation. The bill would make a licensee that certifies in writing that medicinal cannabis or a medicinal cannabis product will be donated to a medicinal cannabis patient and sells or uses the medicinal cannabis or medicinal cannabis product in some manner, or for some purpose other than donation, liable for the cultivation tax. The bill would specify that the certification in writing relieves the cultivator that donates the medicinal cannabis from liability for the cultivation tax and the distributor from liability for collecting the cultivation only if the certification is taken in good faith. The bill would prohibit a distributor or a manufacturer from collecting or remitting the cultivation tax for medicinal cannabis or medicinal cannabis products designated for donation. The bill would require a cultivator to keep records of any medicinal cannabis or medicinal cannabis products designated for donation. The bill would require that the cannabis tax provisions not be construed to impose a cultivation tax upon medicinal cannabis or medicinal cannabis products designated for donation. (5) This bill would provide that the provisions of the act are severable. (6) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 26001 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by AB 2980 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2980 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (7) The Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act, an initiative measure, authorizes the Legislature to amend the act to further the purposes and intent of the act with a 23 vote of the membership of both houses of the Legislature, except as provided. This bill would declare that its provisions further specified purposes and intent of the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act. (8) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

(1) Existing law governs the growth of industrial hemp and imposes specified procedures and requirements on a person who grows industrial hemp, not including an established agricultural research institution, as defined. Existing law defines "industrial hemp" to be the same as that term is defined in the California Uniform Controlled Substances Act, which defines that term as a fiber or oilseed crop, or both, that is limited to types of the plant Cannabis sativa L. with a tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content that does not exceed a specified THC limit, the plant's seeds or resin, and specified substances and mixtures of the plant or its seeds or resin. Existing law requires that industrial hemp only be grown if it is on the list of approved hemp seed cultivars, which includes industrial hemp seed cultivars certified on or before January 1, 2013, by specific organizations, except as specified. Existing law requires industrial hemp to be grown only as a densely planted fiber or oilseed crop, or both. Existing law, the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) , added by Proposition 64 at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, requires this crop to be grown in minimum acreages of 110 of an acre, except as specified. Existing law prohibits the ornamental and clandestine cultivation of industrial hemp plants, and, except under specified circumstances, pruning and tending of individual industrial hemp plants and culling of industrial hemp. Existing law requires sampling and laboratory testing of industrial hemp, as provided, to determine compliance with THC limits and destruction of industrial hemp that exceeds those limits. Existing law establishes timeframes for sampling of industrial hemp and, if applicable, destruction of industrial hemp that exceeds THC limits. Existing law requires a grower of industrial hemp for commercial purposes and a seed breeder, as defined, to register with the county agricultural commissioner and to pay a registration or renewal fee, as specified. Existing law exempts established agricultural institutions from these registration requirements. Existing law requires that registration fees be deposited into the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund and continuously appropriated for use in the administration and enforcement of these provisions. Existing law requires that an application for registration include information about the approved seed cultivar to be grown and whether the seed cultivar will be grown for its grain or fiber, or as a dual purpose crop, or, in the case of a seed breeder, for seed production. Under existing law, a registration issued pursuant to these provisions is valid for 2 years. This bill would delete the requirement that industrial hemp seed cultivars be certified on or before January 1, 2013, in order to be included on the list of approved hemp seed cultivars. The bill would authorize industrial hemp to be produced by clonal propagation, as provided, of industrial hemp that is on the list of approved seed cultivars. The bill would also delete the prohibitions on ornamental cultivation of industrial hemp plants, pruning and tending of individual industrial hemp plants, and culling of industrial hemp. By removing limitations on the types of industrial hemp seed cultivars that may be cultivated, the means by which industrial hemp may be produced, and the purposes for which industrial hemp may be cultivated, with payment of a registration or renewal fee, the bill would establish new sources of revenue for a continuously appropriated fund, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would authorize a county agricultural commissioner or a county, as appropriate, to retain the amount of a registration or renewal fee necessary to reimburse direct costs incurred by the commissioner in the collection of the fee. The bill would also authorize the board of supervisors of a county to establish a registration or renewal fee to cover other costs of the county agricultural commissioner and the county of implementing, administering, and enforcing these provisions, as provided. Under the bill, "industrial hemp" would no longer be defined in the California Uniform Controlled Substances Act as a fiber or oilseed crop. The bill would delete the requirement that industrial hemp be grown as a densely planted fiber or oilseed crop. By modifying the characterization of a crop for which AUMA sets a minimum acreage, the bill would amend AUMA. The bill would also delete the requirement that an application for registration include information about whether a seed cultivar is being grown for its grain or fiber, or as a dual purpose crop. However, the bill would require that an application include the seed cultivar's state or county of origin. Under the bill, a registration issued pursuant to these provisions would be valid for one year instead of 2 years. The bill would require a sample of industrial hemp collected for THC testing to be taken with the grower or seed breeder present, and would require the Department of Food and Agriculture to establish, by regulation, procedures for sampling of industrial hemp, as provided. The bill would require a laboratory test report on the sample to be issued by a department-approved laboratory, and would require the sample to be tested using a department-approved testing method. The bill would require THC content to be measured on a dry-weight basis for purposes of determining whether a sample exceeds THC limits. The bill would establish new timeframes for sampling of industrial hemp and, if applicable, destruction of industrial hemp that exceeds THC limits. The bill would require established agricultural research institutions, before cultivating industrial hemp, to provide the Global Positioning System coordinates of the planned cultivation site to the county agricultural commissioner of the county in which the site is located. (2) Existing federal law, the Agricultural Act of 2014, authorizes an institution of higher education, as defined, or a state department of agriculture, as defined, to grow or cultivate industrial hemp under an agricultural pilot program, as defined, under certain conditions, including the condition that a state department of agriculture is authorized to promulgate regulations to carry out the pilot program in accordance with specified purposes. This bill would also authorize the Department of Food and Agriculture, as part of the industrial hemp registration program, to establish and carry out, by regulation, an agricultural pilot program pursuant to the federal Agricultural Act of 2014 in accordance with those specified purposes. (3) The Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act, an initiative measure, authorizes the Legislature to amend the act to further the purposes and intent of the act with a 23 vote of the membership of both houses of the Legislature, except as provided. This bill would declare that its provisions further specified purposes and intent of the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act.

(1) Existing law, the California Financing Law, generally provides for the licensure and regulation of finance lenders, brokers, and, beginning on January 1, 2019, program administrators, by the Commissioner of Business Oversight. The CFL makes a willful violation of specified provisions a crime. The CFL, until January 1, 2023, establishes the Pilot Program for Increased Access to Responsible Small Dollar Loans (pilot program) , which requires licensees and other entities that wish to participate in the pilot program to file an application and pay a specified fee to the commissioner to participate in the pilot program. The pilot program authorizes a licensee approved by the commissioner to participate in the pilot program to impose specified alternative interest rates and charges, including an administrative fee and delinquency fees, on unsecured loans of at least $300 and less than $2,500, subject to certain requirements. This bill would increase the upper limit on the amount of a permissible loan under the pilot program from $2,500 to $7,500 and make corresponding changes. (2) Under the pilot program, a licensee is prohibited from making a loan if that licensee determines, through its underwriting, that the borrower's total monthly debt service payments exceed 50% of the borrower's monthly gross income. This bill would instead prohibit a licensee from making a loan under these circumstances if the borrower's total monthly debt service payments exceed 50% of the borrower's gross monthly income for a loan of no more than $2,500, or exceed 36% of the borrower's gross monthly income for a loan in excess of $2,500. (3) The pilot program establishes that a loan with a principal balance, upon origination, of at least $1,500 is required to have a term of not less than 180 days. As an alternative to other authorized charges, a licensee approved by the commissioner to participate in the pilot program may contract for and receive charges at an annual simple interest rate not exceeding specified amounts. This bill would additionally require a loan under the pilot program that has a principal balance exceeding $2,500 to have a minimum term of one year and a maximum term of 5 years. The bill would also require licensees to reduce the interest rates on each subsequent loan to the same borrower by a minimum of one percentage point and subject to additional reductions, if specified conditions are satisfied. (4) Under the pilot program, licensees are required to develop and implement policies and procedures designed to respond to questions raised by applicants and borrowers regarding their loans, including those involving finders. Existing law describes a finder as an entity that brings a licensee and a prospective borrower together for the purpose of negotiating a loan contract. This bill would also require licensees to perform reasonable background checks on any finders associated with a licensee's participation in the pilot program. (5) The pilot program authorizes a licensee who is approved to participate in the program to use the services of one or more finders. Existing law defines a "finder" for these purposes as an entity that, at the finder's physical location for business, brings a licensee and a prospective borrower together for the purpose of negotiating a loan contract. This bill would authorize the commissioner to charge a licensee participating in the program an additional fee to offset the commissioner's costs to oversee and examine the activities of that licensee's finder or finders. (6) Existing law requires the Commissioner of Business Oversight to examine each licensee that is accepted into the program at least once every 24 months. This bill would require the commissioner also to examine each finder whose services were used by the licensee at least once every 24 months. (7) Existing law requires the Commissioner of Business Oversight to post reports containing specified information on his or her Internet Web site that summarize utilization of the Pilot Program for Increased Access to Responsible Small Dollar Loans. If more than one licensee is approved to participate in the program, existing law requires that information in the report to be stated in aggregate to avoid identifying data by specific licensee. This bill would require that these reports also contain specified information for each finder whose services were used by a licensee in connection with the loans or loan applications, along with the finder's identity. By increasing the scope of the program, the bill would expand the definition of a crime, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. (8) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.