Sacramento – Today, Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 243, authored by Assemblymember Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg), along with AB 266 and SB 643. The three bills, or the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act, will give California some of the most comprehensive Medical Marijuana regulations in the nation.

“Since the passage of Proposition 215 in 1996 the industry has operated largely in a shadowy grey area,” said Wood. “With these new guidelines I am hopeful we will begin to see a medical marijuana industry that is safer, and more accountable.”

(Sacramento, CA) – Assemblymember Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg) applauded Governor Brown for signing AB 707 into law last night. The bill, authored by Wood and sponsored by the County of Humboldt, now requires the State to notify local governments if the State’s cancellation penalty fee assessment, within the Williamson Act, differs from the County’s original assessment.

Under the Williamson Act, the State provided subvention payments from the State’s General Fund to counties for the loss of local resources to lands under Williams Act contracts. However, these subvention payments to local jurisdictions were eliminated, under Governor Schwarzenegger’s administration, to help balance the State’s budget. Due to the elimination of subvention payments, some local jurisdictions passed ordinances that impose an additional local cancelation penalty fee. If a property owner wanted to cancel a contract with the Williamson Act before the ten year period, the landowner must petition the local Board of Supervisor or City Council to terminate a contract. The County of Humboldt is one local jurisdiction that has a local cancelation penalty fee.

Today Assemblyman Jim Wood (D-North Coast) presented SB 326 on the Assembly floor.  The bill authored by Senator Jim Beall extends the funding for Medical Air Transportation through Jan. 1 2020 and mandate the state develop a reliable funding source beyond that.

Assemblyman Wood said, “Given the extreme access to healthcare issues we face across much of my district, in particular in Del Norte and Trinity Counties, these services are critical.”

Today the Assembly and Senate have agreed to move forward on a package that would create a framework for the medical cannabis industry in California. 

Assemblyman Wood said, “This package is the end product of countless hours meeting with stakeholders and extensive negotiations with the Governor’s office.  I am thrilled that AB 243, which overcame resistance to its groundbreaking definition of cannabis as an agricultural product, and which focuses specifically on the needs of the north coast, will serve as the foundation of the cultivation language in this year’s cannabis package.”

Sacramento Today – The Senate Environmental Quality Committee voted to pass Assemblymember Jim Wood’s Marijuana Watershed Protection Act (AB 243) by a vote of 5-0.

Assemblyman Wood said, “The progress we have made is very encouraging and I am grateful for all the support we have gathered so far.  We now have an opportunity to work out the final wrinkles over summer recess and I think we will have a very strong bill in the final weeks of the legislative session.”