Around 100 citizen lobbyists from across California visited scores of legislative offices in Sacramento as part of the Third Annual Cal NORML / ASA Lobby Day on Monday, May 6, 2019.
NORML chapter members from Orange County, the Central Valley, the Inland Empire, and Contra Costa county joined Americans for Safe Access chapter members from Sonoma and San Diego, along with other supporters from the North Coast and the Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas to lobby in their elected officials’ offices.
California state Senator Scott Wiener, sponsor of a bill to exempt compassion programs that give away medicine to needy patients from paying taxes, addressed the group and received a Legislator of the Year Award for his efforts. Nicole Elliott, Senior Advisor on Cannabis to Governor Gavin Newsom, also spoke and joined attendees for a group photo:
Participants gathered at a morning session and breakfast at The Citizen Hotel, where they were given tips for effective lobbying and talking points they could use to present pending legislation, mainly:
- SB 34 – To Protect Cannabis Compassion Programs in California
- AB 286 – To Temporarily Lower Cannabis Taxes
- SB 233 – To Allow Medical Cannabis Access in Schools
- AB 1465 – To License Cannabis Consumption Cafés and Lounges
- SB 305 – To Allow Qualified Patients Medical Cannabis Access in Healthcare Facilities
Other bills to provide tax relief to veterans purchasing medical marijuana, provide fee waivers to equity business applicants, and abolish the state narcotics offenders’ registry were also presented. Fact Sheets on the bills to leave behind at legislative offices were provided.
In the afternoon, attendees headed to the Capitol for pre-arranged meetings with lawmakers and their staffers.
After lobbying, participants completed feedback forms about their visits and their representatives’ positions on bills, which they turned in before attending a VIP reception that evening in the Scandal Lounge at The Citizen.
