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Written by: Elizabeth Larson

Published: 21 October 2019

SACRAMENTO – Consumers have come to trust appellation labeling with wine. The appellation system is an indicator of quality here in the United States, focused on specific geographic regions where the wine grape crop was grown.

For years, cannabis farmers have been wanting to secure the same protections and transparency the California wine industry implemented decades ago.

On Oct. 12, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Sen. McGuire’s bill – SB 185 – which establishes for the first time in history, appellation protections for cannabis.

Now law, SB 185 expands the prohibitions already in statute on improperly using county names for cannabis products to include appellation protection based on specific geographic regions and/or using any similar sounding name of appellations on the product label.

“This law will prevent cannabis manufacturers from claiming, for example, their product is grown in the emerald triangle, when in fact it was grown in Sacramento. The law takes into account the critical ingredients to a successful appellation designation such as geographic location, soil types, farming techniques and microclimates,” Sen. McGuire said. “Customers have come to expect truth in labeling in wine and this critical bill ensures manufacturers market products that meet similar appellation requirements with Cannabis.”

SB 185 was endorsed by Secretary of State Padilla, the California State Association of Counties, Humboldt County Growers Alliance and the California Cannabis Industry Association.

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Written by: Elizabeth Larson

Published: 16 October 2019

SACRAMENTO – Recognizing California’s decisions to build the state’s fiscal reserves and pay down long-term liabilities, as well as continued economic growth, a major credit agency – Moody's Investors Service – has upgraded California's outstanding general obligation bonds to Aa2 from Aa3.

The agency has also upgraded the rating on the state's outstanding lease debt, its outstanding appropriation debt and outstanding school fund apportionment lease revenue bonds.

According to the agency, the upgrade "recognizes the state government's disciplined approach to managing revenue growth indicated by its use of surplus funds to build reserves and pay down long-term liabilities."

“While Washington balloons the national debt to pay for tax cuts for the rich, California is showing that it is possible to take bold action to tackle the affordability crisis, climate change, and other challenges all while living within our means,” said Gov. Newsom. “We are advancing progressive values while growing our rainy day fund, paying down pension liabilities and eliminating our state’s wall of debt.”

In August, Fitch Ratings also upgraded the state’s credit rating, writing that California has improved its ability to weather an economic downturn.

The 2019 Budget Act signed by the governor made a series of investments in expanding the state’s financial security.

The budget will end the year with total reserves of $19.2 billion, of which $16.5 billion is in the Rainy Day Fund, $1.4 billion in the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties, $900 million in the Safety Net Reserve and nearly $400 million in the Public School System Stabilization Account.

The budget makes an extra payment of $9 billion over the next four years to pay down unfunded pension liabilities. This includes $3 billion to CalPERS and $2.9 billion to CalSTRS on behalf of the state, and $3.15 billion to CalSTRS and CalPERS on behalf of schools.

The budget invests $4.5 billion to eliminate the Wall of Debt and reverses the decade-old deferral undertaken during the last recession.

The budget prioritizes one-time investments, with 88 percent of new expenditures being temporary rather than ongoing. This addresses the affordability crisis facing Californians while minimizing ongoing commitments to avoid putting the state at fiscal disadvantage in the future.

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Written by: Elizabeth Larson

Published: 13 October 2019

SACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Assemblymember Marc Levine (D-San Rafael) applauded Gov. Gavin Newsom for signing into law AB 1130, a bill that protects consumers by strengthening California’s data security laws.

Effective Jan. 1, 2020, AB 1130 will update the state’s existing data breach notification law by requiring businesses to maintain reasonable security measures to protect government-issued identification numbers and biometric information from breach, and to notify consumers when such information is compromised.

“With the passage of AB 1130, California has once again proven it deserves its reputation as the nation’s leader in data privacy and protection,” said Attorney General Becerra. “Consumers have a right to know if their personal data is compromised by an unauthorized source. Now, California law will require companies to treat consumers’ passport numbers and unique biometric data with the same security that they would a credit card or Social Security number — if you collect it, you must protect it.”

“There is a real danger when our personal information is not protected by those we trust,” said Assemblymember Levine. “Businesses must do more to protect personal data and I am proud to stand with Attorney General Becerra in demanding greater disclosure by a company when a data breach has occurred. AB 1130 will increase our efforts to protect consumers from fraud and affirms our commitment to demand the strongest consumer protections in the nation.”

In 2003, California became the first state to pass a data breach notification law requiring companies to protect against the unauthorized access of consumers’ personal information, including identifiers such as a person’s Social Security number, driver’s license number, credit card number, and medical and health insurance information.

AB 1130 will now update that law to include tax identification numbers, passport numbers, military identification numbers, A-numbers, or other unique identification numbers issued on a government document commonly used to verify the identity of a specific individual.

Because these numbers are unique, static identifiers of a person, they are valuable to criminals seeking to create or build fake profiles and commit sophisticated identity theft and fraud. AB 1130 also updates the statute to include protection for a person’s unique biometric information, such as a fingerprint, or image of a retina or iris.

Assemblymember Levine introduced AB 1130 on February 21, 2019. The legislation was prompted by the massive data breach of the guest database at Starwood Hotels – recently acquired by Marriott – in 2018. Marriott revealed that the massive breach exposed more than 327 million records containing guests’ names, addresses, and more than 25 million passport numbers, among other things.

Though the company did notify consumers of the breach, there was not previously any law requiring companies to protect such information or report breaches if only consumers’ passport numbers had been improperly accessed.

Attorney General Becerra is committed to protecting consumer and individual privacy. Since taking office in January 2017, he has announced a $600 million settlement with Equifax for improperly exposing the personal information of 147 million consumers; a $148 million settlement with Uber for failing to notify regulators and users of a data breach; an $18.5 million settlement with Target for failing to provide reasonable data security; a $9.8 million settlement with Walgreens for failing to adhere fully to requirements imposed by California law for the dispensing of certain prescriptions drugs under Medi‑Cal; and a $3.5 million settlement with Lenovo for illegally preinstalling software that compromised the security of its computers.