SACRAMENTO, Jun 22 – The California Assembly Public Safety Committee approved Sen. Mark Leno’s bill SB 1449 to downgrade petty marijuana possession from a misdemeanor to an infraction. The bill passed with no discussion by a vote of 4-1, with Ammiano (D-SF), Beall (D-SJ), Hill (D-SanMateo) and Yamada (D-Davis) voting aye, and Portantino (D-Pasadena) nay. The two Republicans, Hagman and Gilmore, abstained.
SB 1449 now moves on to the Assembly floor for a final vote. Similar decriminalization bills have passed the Senate three times in past years, only to be defeated in the Assembly. Sponsors are hopeful that the Assembly will change its mind this time, given the cost savings in the bill, the state’s ongoing budget crisis, and the bill’s support by the district attorneys and court system.
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