Assembly Business & Professions Committee advances bills on hemp enforcement, anesthesia scope, menopause training, copper-theft and more

SACRAMENTO — The Assembly Business and Professions Committee on Wednesday heard about a dozen substantive bills and advanced several to later committees, including measures aimed at tightening enforcement of intoxicating hemp products, clarifying the scope of nurse anesthetists, admitting nationally certified anesthesiologist assistants into California practice, establishing menopause continuing‑education requirements for some physicians, expanding penalties and reporting for copper wire theft, and strengthening consumer protections for online pet sales.

The hearing featured extended debate over AB 8, a measure from Majority Leader Aguirre Curry to fold intoxicating hemp products into the regulated cannabis supply chain; AB 8 drew detailed testimony both from licensed cannabis businesses and labor representatives who supported moving intoxicating products into the Department of Cannabis Control’s regulatory framework and from rural cultivators and public health groups who urged more precise limits and protections tied to Proposition 64. Committee members also advanced several other measures, including AB 876 (clarifying certified registered nurse anesthetist practice), AB 985 (authorizing certified anesthesiologist assistants under physician supervision), AB 4 32 (the Menopause Equity Act), AB 4 76 (strengthening penalties and reporting for copper/theft of public infrastructure metal), AB 5 06 (consumer protections for online pet sales), AB 5 19 (restricting brokered out‑of‑state pet sales), AB 5 64 (freeze on a proposed cannabis excise tax increase), AB 1 002 (allowing Attorney General coordination with CSLB for serial wage‑theft cases), and AB 4 08 (a physician health and wellness program). Votes taken in committee sent multiple bills onward to appropriations, revenue, health or judiciary committees as noted below.

Why it matters: Several measures would shift enforcement and revenue lines — for example, AB 8 would place intoxicating hemp products under the Department of Cannabis Control, potentially subjecting some products to cannabis excise tax and DCC testing and labeling rules. Other bills would alter professional practice rules (AB 876, AB 985), expand public‑safety enforcement and penalties (AB 4 76, AB 1 002), or change how state policy funds services relied on by communities (AB 5 64’s proposed tax freeze was debated partly over its downstream effect on youth and environmental programs funded by cannabis revenue).

Hemp and cannabis (AB 8) Assembly Majority Leader Aguirre Curry presented AB 8 as an effort to close loopholes he and supporters say allow intoxicating, often synthetic THC products to be sold outside the regulated cannabis market. “As the hemp market grows, we’re seeing more intoxicating hemp products sold outside of dispensaries without age limits, which should be illegal,” Aguirre Curry said in presenting the bill. He described three goals: expand enforcement against illegal hemp products, ban synthetic THC in those products, and integrate intoxicating hemp into the cannabis supply chain so such products are registered, tested and taxed like other cannabis products.

Supporters included Kristen Heidelbach,…