Top Billing

May 2019

A monthly update on key legislation for Treasurer Ma

Financial Institutions for Cannabis

Senate Bill 51, Robert M. Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) https://sd18.senate.ca.gov/

Creates a limited-purpose state charter for privately funded banks to service licensed cannabis businesses with the goal of providing alternative banking opportunities for the cash-only cannabis industry.

Online Retailers Sales Tax: Expansion to Marketplace Facilitators

Assembly Bill 147, Autumn Burke (D-Marina del Rey) https://a62.asmdc.org/

Extends retailers sales tax to online marketplace facilitators and requires them to collect and remit taxes on behalf of third-party sellers. (Signed into law.)

Name Translation on Ballot Materials

Assembly Bill 57, Evan Low (D-Silicon Valley) https://a28.asmdc.org/

Standardizes the way names are translated into character-based languages on the California ballot.

529 ScholarShare Tax Deduction on State Income Taxes

Assembly Bill 211, Ian Calderon (D-Whittier) https://a57.asmdc.org/

Provides a state income tax deduction for those who contribute to a California ScholarShare 529 account, not to exceed $5,000 for single taxpayers, or $10,000 for joint filers. (Amended in Appropriations to include salary caps of $75,000 for single taxpayers and $150,000 for joint filers.)

Extension of the Sales Tax Exclusion Program

Senate Bill 162, Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton) https://sd05.senate.ca.gov/

Extends authorization of the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority (CAEATA) to January 1, 2030 for the purpose of providing financial assistance in the form of a sales and use tax exclusion for qualifying projects. Projects include those that promote California-based manufacturing, California-based jobs, advanced manufacturing, reduction of greenhouse gases, or reduction in air and water pollution or energy consumption.

Temporary Tax Reductions on Cannabis Cultivation and Excise Taxes

Assembly Bill 286, Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) https://a18.asmdc.org/

Temporarily reduces the state’s cannabis excise tax from 15 percent to 11 percent and suspends the cultivation tax altogether to help the fledgling industry establish itself and undercut black market sales. (Held in Appropriations.)

Expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit

Assembly Bill 10, David Chiu (D-San Francisco) https://a17.asmdc.org/

Increases California’s Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) by $500 million beginning in 2020 and would allocate to farmworker housing projects $25,000,000 per year of that amount.

Tax Deductions on Ordinary Business Expenses for Cannabis Businesses

Assembly Bill 37, Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer Sr. (D-Los Angeles) https://a59.asmdc.org/

Allows cannabis businesses to receive the same state income tax deductions as regular businesses on ordinary business expenses for each taxable year beginning on and after January 1, 2019.

Eliminate Sunset Date for Certification and Bifurcation of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits

Senate Bill 9, Jim Beall (D-San Jose) https://sd15.senate.ca.gov/

Eliminates the sunset date for reauthorization to certificate and bifurcate state Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, and would require the allocation of credits among partners in accordance with the partnership agreement and authorizing the sale of a credit, as described by the bill indefinitely.