Legislature in Full Swing, Flavored Tobacco Ban Advances

After a few hiccups last week, the Legislature resumed this week with a busy calendar of policy committee hearings, special hearings, and floor sessions. The Assembly Health Committee convened on Tuesday to hear several bills including SB 793, Senator Jerry Hill’s measure to ban flavored tobacco statewide. After lengthy testimony and a spirited debate amongst committee members, the bill passed out of the committee on a 10-2 vote with three members of the committee not voting. The measure now moves on to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Looking ahead, CHEAC’s jointly sponsored measure with HOAC and SEIU California, AB 3224 (Rodriguez), will be heard in the Senate Health Committee on Monday, August 10. The measure would require CDPH to contract with an appropriate and qualified entity to conduct an evaluation of the adequacy of the local health department infrastructure, including recommendations for future staffing, workforce, and resource needs.

Please see our updated CHEAC Weekly Bill Chart for specific information on bills of interest to CHEAC.

Communicable Disease Control

AB 2077 (Ting) as Amended May 20, 2020 – SUPPORT

AB 2077, sponsored by HOAC, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, and the Drug Policy Alliance, would remove the sunset from an existing law that allows pharmacies to sell and adults to possess sterile syringes for personal use without a prescription. The bill was heard in the Senate Health Committee on Saturday, August 3, passed out on a 6-2 vote, and will be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee next week.