SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California lawmakers voted Thursday to set rules for the state’s nascent marijuana industry and to quash the growth of federal immigration detention as lawmakers approved major pieces of a state budget for the next fiscal year.
Lawmakers sent Gov. Jerry Brown a measure merging the state’s longstanding medical marijuana law with the much more permissive rules voters approved last year to legalize pot sales to people 21 and older. The state will develop standards for organic marijuana, allow pot samples at county fairs and permit home deliveries.
The Legislature also backed a measure to limit new beds for immigration detention, dealing a blow to the Trump administration’s efforts to boost deportation. The measure prevents local governments from signing or expanding contracts with federal authorities for immigration detention facilities. It also calls for the state’s attorney general to review conditions at the centers.
The marijuana and immigration provisions are pieces of a $125 billion general fund spending plan that increases money for education and social services while imposing new financial restrictions on the University of California following a scathing audit. The full spending bill is expected to pass the Legislature later Thursday.
Brown, a Democrat, has called the budget “balanced and progressive.” Legislative Democrats praised the budget, saying it would help alleviate poverty while building up savings for a future economic downturn.