AB-1209 • 2026

Workers’ compensation: cannabis industry.

Elections Healthcare Labor Taxes

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor: Michelle Rodriguez
Last action: 2026-02-02
Official status: From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56.
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill text does not specify details on how assistance is provided or what specific forms of help are available to struggling employers.

Workers' Compensation Rules for Cannabis Industry

This law requires cannabis industry employers to provide proof of workers' compensation insurance and allows the administrative director to assist them in obtaining it.

What This Bill Does

Requires cannabis businesses to show proof that they have secured payment of workers’ compensation insurance.
Allows the administrative director or their agent to report uncooperative employers to labor enforcement agencies.
Gives the administrative director power to set deadlines for compliance with these rules.
Provides assistance and extended deadlines to businesses struggling to obtain workers' compensation coverage.

Who It Names or Affects

Cannabis industry employers who need to be licensed under MAUCRSA.
The administrative director of the Division of Workers’ Compensation and labor enforcement agencies.

Terms To Know

MAUCRSA: Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act, which regulates cannabis businesses in California.
Workers' compensation: Insurance that pays for medical care and lost wages when an employee gets hurt or sick from work.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill does not specify a date when it will take effect.
It is unclear how many cannabis businesses currently lack workers' compensation insurance.
Details about the help provided to struggling employers are left unspecified in the summary.

Bill History

2026-02-02 California Legislative Information
From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56.
2026-01-31 California Legislative Information
Died pursuant to Art. IV, Sec. 10(c) of the Constitution.
2025-04-21 California Legislative Information
In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
2025-04-21 California Legislative Information
Re-referred to Com. on B. & P.
2025-04-10 California Legislative Information
From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on B. & P. Read second time and amended.
2025-04-02 California Legislative Information
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on B. & P. (Ayes 15. Noes 2.) (April 2). Re-referred to Com. on B. & P.
2025-03-27 California Legislative Information
Re-referred to Com. on INS.
2025-03-26 California Legislative Information
From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on INS. Read second time and amended.
2025-03-24 California Legislative Information
Re-referred to Com. on INS.
2025-03-20 California Legislative Information
From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on INS. Read second time and amended.
2025-03-13 California Legislative Information
Referred to Coms. on INS. and B. & P.
2025-02-24 California Legislative Information
Read first time.
2025-02-22 California Legislative Information
From printer. May be heard in committee March 24.
2025-02-21 California Legislative Information
Introduced. To print.

Official Summary Text

AB 1209, as amended, Michelle Rodriguez.
Workers’ compensation: cannabis industry.
Existing law, the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), approved by the voters at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, regulates the cultivation, distribution, transport, storage, manufacturing, testing, processing, sale, and use of marijuana for nonmedical purposes by people 21 years of age and older. The existing Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA), among other things, consolidates the licensure and regulation of commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis activities.
Existing law establishes a workers’ compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers’ Compensation, to compensate an employee, as defined, for injuries sustained in the course of employment. Existing law requires every employer to secure the payment of workers’
compensation as provided by law and imposes civil and criminal penalties on employers that fail to secure the payment of workers’ compensation. Existing law authorizes an employer, pursuant to this provision, to insure against liability in insurers duly authorized to write compensation insurance in the state or to secure from the Director of Industrial Relations a certificate of consent to self-insure.
Existing law establishes the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement and requires it to enforce certain provisions related to working conditions of employees, including whether an employer has secured the payment of workers’ compensation.
This bill would
require an employer that is licensed or required to be licensed under MAUCRSA to provide proof that it has secured payment of workers’ compensation to the administrative director, as described. The bill would require the administrative director or its agent to report to the Division of Labor Standards and Enforcement
an employer who does not provide the above-described proof.
authorize the administrative director or their agent to require an employer that is licensed or required to be licensed under MAUCRSA to provide proof that it has secured payment of workers’ compensation to the administrative director or their agent. The bill would authorize the administrative director or their agent to establish a schedule for compliance that includes dates for when a licensee may be required to comply with these requirements.
The bill would require the administrative director to provide assistance to any employer or entity that notifies the administrative director that it has been unable to obtain coverage and authorize the administrative director to extend the deadline for compliance, and would exempt any employer that secures the payment of workers’ compensation pursuant to these provisions from civil or criminal
liability for prior failure to secure the payment of compensation. The bill would authorize the administrative director to contract with one or more agents to assist employers in complying with these provisions, as specified.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

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