Updated October, 16 2023

Last Day for Governor to sign or veto bills passed by the Legislature was Oct. 14

SLP’s 2023 Watch List 

Signed and Chaptered (i.e., passed and will become law)

AB-461 (Ramos-D) — Would require community colleges and California State University campuses to make fentanyl test strips and education about their use available to students.
AB 531 (Irwin-D) – Behavioral Health Infrastructure Bond Act of 2023. Would enact the Behavioral Health Infrastructure Bond Act of 2023 which, if approved by the voters (March 5, 2024 statewide primary ballot), would authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $4,680,000,000 to finance grants for the acquisition of capital assets for, and the construction and rehabilitation of, unlocked, voluntary, and community-based treatment settings and residential care settings and also for housing for veterans and others who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of homelessness and are living with a behavioral health challenge.
AB-665 (Carrillo-D) — Would allow children 12 and older to consent to mental health treatment and counseling without the requirement that the minor present a danger of serious physical or mental harm to themselves or to others, or be the alleged victim of incest or child abuse.
AB-701 (Villapudua-D) — Would add fentanyl to the substances for which additional terms or fines can be imposed and would require a defendant who violates those laws with respect to a substance containing heroin, fentanyl, or cocaine, as specified, to know of the substance’s nature or character as a controlled substance to be subjected to an additional term and authorized fine.
AB-889 (Joe Patterson-R) — Would require a school district, county office of education, and charter school to annually inform parents or guardians of the dangers associated with using synthetic drugs, as provided, at the beginning of the first semester or quarter of the regular school term.
AB-935 (Connolly-D) — Would make the provisions of the flavored tobacco ban punishable by civil penalties. Originally introduced as a phased tobacco ban that would have prohibited a tobacco retailer from selling tobacco products to any person born on or after January 1, 2007.
AB-1130 (Berman-D) — Would revise and recast provisions of the law to delete the reference to an “addict” and instead replace it with the term “a person with substance use disorder,” among other technical non-substantive changes.
AB-1360 (McCarty-D) — Would, until July 1, 2029, authorize the Counties of Sacramento and Yolo to offer secured residential treatment pilot programs, known as Hope California, for individuals suffering from substance use disorders (SUDs) who have been convicted of qualifying drug-motivated felony crimes. Approved by Senate Public Safety and Senate Health committees.
SB 10 (Cortese-D) — Would state the Legislature’s encouragement of county offices of education to establish a County Working Group on Fentanyl Education in Schools, as provided, for the purposes of outreach, building awareness, and collaborating with local health agencies regarding fentanyl overdoses. The bill would require the department to curate and maintain on its internet website, among other things, informational materials containing awareness and safety advice, for school staff, pupils, and parents or guardians of pupils, on how to prevent an opioid overdose.
SB 19 (Seyarto-R) — (amended March 7, 2023) Would establish the Anti-Fentanyl Abuse Task Force to be chaired by the Attorney General. Task force would have its first meeting no later than March 1, 2024 and would report its findings and recommendations to the AG, the Governor and the Legislature by July 1, 2025. Sunsets Jan. 1, 2026.
SB-43 (Eggman-D) — Would expand the definition of “gravely disabled” in the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, which provides for the involuntary commitment and treatment of a person who is a danger to themselves or others or who is gravely disabled" to also include a condition that will result in substantial risk of serious harm to the physical or mental health of a person in which a person, due to a mental health disorder or a substance use disorder or both. disorder, or both, is at substantial risk of serious harm, or is currently experiencing serious harm to their physical or mental health.
SB 46 (Roth-D) — Would amend the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act of 2000 (Proposition 36) adopted by voters to place nonviolent offenders on parole and probation. Would remove the requirement that there be a reasonable cause to believe that the defendant will not abuse controlled substances in the future in order to be considered as having successfully completed treatment. Would also specify that successful completion of education or treatment shall not require cessation of narcotic replacement therapy. Would authorize the court to develop a sliding fee schedule based on the person’s inability to pay for a treatment program.
SB 67 (Seyarto-R) — Would require coroners and medical examiners to report overdoses to the California Emergency Medical Services Authority and require the Authority to report data to the Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program managed by the Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program.
SB-234 (Portantino-D) — Would require naloxone in public schools, community colleges, CSU and UC campuses, as well as public sporting and entertainment venues and amusement parks. Would also require school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to report to the State Department of Education and the State Department of Health Care Services, on an annual basis at the end of every school year, all incidents of on campus pupil opioid exposure during that school year.
SB-250 (Umberg-D) — Would provide that it is not a crime for a person to possess for personal use a controlled substance, controlled substance analog, or drug paraphernalia, if the person tests the controlled substance or controlled substance analog and determines that the substance is adulterated with another substance, including, but not limited to, fentanyl, and notifies law enforcement, as specified. Would also prohibit a statement from a person who is subject to immunity from prosecution from being used as evidence in a criminal proceeding against the person for the crime of being under the influence of, or possessing for personal use, a controlled substance, controlled substance analog, or drug paraphernalia, under specified circumstances. Because this bill would exclude relevant evidence, the statement, from a criminal proceeding, it would require a 2/3 vote of the Legislature.
SB 326 (Eggman-D) – Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) modernization. Subject to voter approval (March 5, 2024, ballot), this bill would delete the provision that establishes vote requirements to amend the MHSA, requiring all amendments of the MHSA to be approved by the voters. The bill would recast the MHSA by, among other things, renaming it the Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA), expanding it to include treatment of substance use disorders, changing the county planning process, and expanding services for which counties and the state can use funds. The bill would revise the distribution of MHSA moneys, including allocating up to $36,000,000 to the department for behavioral health workforce funding. The bill would authorize the department to require a county to implement specific evidence-based practices.
SR-16 (Dodd-D) — Would recognize March 2023 as Problem Gambling Awareness Month in California, and commend the agencies and organizations described in this resolution for their concerted effort to raise public awareness of problem gambling.

Failed passage in 2023

AB 18 (Patterson-R) — Would require a person who is convicted of, or who pleads guilty or no contest to, fentanyl and other narcotics-related crimes to receive a written advisory of the danger of manufacturing or distribution of controlled substances and that, if a person dies as a result of that action, the manufacturer or distributor can be charged with voluntary manslaughter or murder. The bill would require that the fact the advisory was given be on the record and recorded on the abstract of the conviction. Feb. 14, 2023 Failed passage in first hearing.
AB 19 (Joe Patterson-R) — Would require public schools, that have elected to make a school nurse or trained personnel available, to maintain at least two doses of naloxone or another opioid antagonist. Currently with Senate Appropriations Committee. Placed on suspense file. Held under submission (Sept. 1).
AB-33 (Bains-D) — (amended March 2, 2023). Would establish the Fentanyl Addiction and Overdose Prevention Task Force to be cochaired by the Attorney General and the Surgeon General. The bill would require the first meeting of the task force to take place no later than March 1, 2024, and would require the task force to submit an interim report with findings and recommendations to the Attorney General, the Governor, and the Legislature by July 1, 2025. The task force (and all provisions of the bill) would sunset on January 1, 2026. Approved by both houses. On Governor’s desk.
AB-462 (Ramos-D) — (amended March 2, 2023) Would, until January 1, 2029, establish the Overdose Response Team Fund to provide grants to establish and implement county overdose response teams with the sheriffs’ departments of those counties. The bill would require the teams to respond to and investigate overdose deaths and nonfatal overdoses involving juveniles and multiple victims, with a focus on overdose deaths related to fentanyl. The bill would require counties participating in these programs to send annual reports to the Assembly Select Committee on Fentanyl, Opioid Addiction, and Overdose Prevention, Committee on Public Safety, including the number of arrests of drug dealers in each county, for specified crimes, the amount of fentanyl and opioids seized in each county, and the number of units of opioid antagonists found at each overdose scene. administered, distributed, or recovered at each overdose scene.
AB-474 (Rodriguez-D) — Would require the State Threat Assessment Center (STAC) to prioritize work to disrupt and dismantle opioid trafficking networks. Approved by Senate Public Safety Committee. Approved by both houses. Vetoed by Governor.
AB-512 (Waldron-R) — Would require the California Health and Human Services Agency to create an ad hoc committee by July 1, 2024 to study how to develop a real-time, internet-based system to display information about available beds in inpatient psychiatric facilities, crisis stabilization units, residential community mental health facilities, and residential alcoholism or substance abuse treatment facilities. The ad hoc committee would be required to submit its report to the Legislature by July 1, 2025. Approved by Assembly Health. Placed on suspense file in Assembly Appropriations.
AB-864 (Haney-D) — Would require the California Department of Health Care Services to establish and maintain a 3-digit, statewide, nonemergency telephone system for substance use disorder treatment referrals. Referred to Assembly Health Committee.
AB-890 (Joe Patterson-R) — Would require a court ordering a defendant to complete those courses to only order the defendant to participate in programs. that include, among other things, information regarding the nature and addictive elements of fentanyl and other synthetic opiates and their danger to a person’s life and health. The bill would require program providers to report an unexcused absence by a defendant from a fentanyl and synthetic opiate education program to the court and the probation department within 2 business days. Approved by both houses.
AB-1055 (Bains-D) — Would create the Allied Behavioral Health Board within the Department of Consumer Affairs and require the board to establish regulations and standards for the licensure of alcohol drug counselors. Would specify that it does not require a person employed or volunteering at an outpatient treatment program or residential treatment facility certified or licensed by the State Department of Health Care Services to be licensed by the board. Currently with Assembly Business and Professions Committee.
AB-1058 (Jim Patterson-R) — Would increase penalties for possession, sale, transportation of more than more than 28.35 grams of fentanyl. Currently in Assembly Public Safety.
AB-1288 (Reyes-D) — Would prohibit health insurers or medical plans from requiring prior authorization for a buprenorphine product, methadone, or long-acting injectable naltrexone for detoxification or maintenance treatment of a substance use disorder. Approved by both houses. Vetoed by the Governor.
AB-1339 (Haney-D) — Would prohibit a state-funded program, as defined, from discriminating against, or denying access to housing or housing services to, individuals because they are currently undergoing MAT or taking authorized medications. Approved by Assembly Judiciary. Held in Assembly Appropriations.
AB-1362 (Davies-R) — Would require physical education for grades 7-12 to include risks associated with use of opioids and other substances. Currently in Assembly Education.
AB-1477 (Quirk-Silva-D) — Would require all fees for licensing of residential treatment facilities and certification of treatment programs that provide addiction treatment services to be at the rate last published in 2022. The bill would leave that rate in effect until January 1, 2031, or until deaths related to opioid overdose reported by the California Overdose Surveillance Dashboard have declined by 50%, whichever is first. The bill would then require that fee increases continue until licensing and certification programs are self-sufficient, but would prohibit the increase from exceeding 15% in a single year. Approved by Assembly Health March 22. Held on suspense in Assembly Appropriations.
AB-1565 (Jones-Sawyer-D) — Would provide up to $15 million annually beginning in 2028 to assist equity applicants and licensees to gain entry into the regulated cannabis market. Held under submission by Senate Appropriations (Sept. 1).
AB-1616 (Lackey-R) — Would require the Board of State and Community Corrections to prioritize California Cannabis Tax Fund grants for local governments whose programs seek to address the unlawful cultivation and sale of cannabis. The bill would also authorize the board to make grants to local governments that ban both indoor and outdoor commercial cannabis cultivation, or ban retail sale of cannabis or cannabis products. Approved by Assembly. Approved by Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee. Currently with Senate Public Safety Committee.
AB-1655 (Dixon-R) — Would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation relating to sober living facilities.
AB-1696 (Sanchez-R) — Would require any government entity that enters into a contract with a privately owned recovery residence to require that recovery residence to submit specified documents, including written permission from the property owner to operate on the property and the policies and procedures used by the recovery resident to address a resident’s right to access prescription and nonprescription drugs. The bill would apply these requirements to any contracts entered into, renewed, or amended on or after January 1, 2024. Vetoed by Governor with the following message: “This bill would require any privately-owned recovery residence that contracts with a government entity to provide documented policies and procedures related to its operations, code of ethics, and patient access to medications. Privately-owned recovery residences, as defined by this bill, are not subject to state licensure or certification. Therefore, AB 1696 would conflate requirements in existing law for licensed and certified programs providing substance use disorder recovery services with new requirements for privately-owned recovery residences, which the California Department of Health Care Services does not oversee or enforce. This may create confusion among people seeking recovery services from licensed or certified programs or treatment facilities.”
AB-1751 (Gipson-D) — Would broaden requirement that patients be provided with information about nonpharmacological treatments for pain. Referred to Assembly Health. Assembly Health hearing April 18 cancelled at request of author.
SB 13 (Ochoa Bogh-R) — Would require a person who is convicted of, or who pleads guilty or no contest to, fentanyl and other narcotics-related crimes to receive a written advisory of the danger of manufacturing or distribution of controlled substances and that, if a person dies as a result of that action, the manufacturer or distributor can be charged with voluntary manslaughter or murder. The bill would require that the fact the advisory was given be on the record and recorded on the abstract of the conviction.
SB 44 (Umberg-D) — This bill, Alexandra’s Law, would require the court to advise a person who is convicted of, or who pleads guilty or no contest to specified crimes, as specified, of the danger of selling or administering illicit drugs and counterfeit pills and that, if a person dies as a result of that action, and the person knew or should have known that the substance provided contained fentanyl or a fentanyl analog, the defendant can be charged with homicide.  Failed passage in Senate Public Safety Committee.
SB 58 (Wiener-D) — Would decriminalize possession of small amounts of psilocybin, DMT, ibogaine and mescaline for personal or “facilitated” (i.e., therapeutic) use by persons 21 or older. Would also make lawful the cultivation or transportation of specified quantities of spores or mycelium capable of producing mushrooms or other materials that contain psilocybin or psilocyn for personal use, as defined, by and with persons 21 years of age or older. Approved by both houses. On Governor’s desk.
SB 62 (Nguyen-R) — Would impose additional sentencing term and a fine for a defendant who violates existing laws with respect to a substance containing fentanyl. Failed passage in Senate Public Safety Committee. Reconsideration granted.
SB-226 (Alvarado-Gil-D) — Adds fentanyl to the list of controlled substances prohibited while armed with a loaded firearm. Failed passage in Assembly Public Safety Committee.
SB-232 (Niello-R) — Would expand the definition of “gravely disabled” for these purposes to read, in part, a condition in which a person, as a result of a mental health disorder, is incapable of making informed decisions about, or providing for, their own basic personal needs for food, clothing, shelter, or medical care without significant supervision and assistance from another person and, as a result of being incapable of making these informed decisions, the person is at risk of substantial bodily harm, dangerous worsening of a concomitant serious physical illness, significant psychiatric deterioration, or mismanagement of essential needs that could result in bodily harm. In Senate Health Committee.
SB-237 (Grove-R) — Would increase sentences for fentanyl-related crimes. Failed passage in Senate Public Safety. Reconsideration granted.
SB-287 (Skinner-D) — Would prohibit a social media platform, as defined, from using a design, algorithm, practice, affordance, or feature that the platform knows, or which by the exercise of reasonable care should have known, causes child users to do any of certain things, including experience addiction to the social media platform. Approved by Senate Judiciary Committee April 11. Placed on suspense file in Senate Appropriations.
SB-363  (Eggman-D) — Would require the Department of Health Care Services, by Jan. 1, 2025, to develop a real-time, internet-based database to collect, aggregate, and display information about beds in specified types of facilities, such as chemical dependency recovery hospitals, acute psychiatric hospitals, and mental health rehabilitation centers, among others, to identify the availability of inpatient and residential mental health or substance use disorder treatment. Held in Assembly Appropriations (Sept. 1).
SB-351 (Roth-D) — Would prioritize an appropriation to the Office of Problem Gambling for developing and providing quality statewide prevention and treatment programs and services to address gambling disorder. Currently with Senate Rules.
SB-472 (Hurtado-D) — Would require public schools to maintain at least two doses of naloxone or another opioid antagonist and would state intent of Legislature to require schools to provide training to parents on the use of naloxone. Held on suspense in Senate Appropriations Committee.