California

Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D) announced the following committee changes:

• Senator Ricardo Lara (D) will be the Chair of the Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations.
• Senator Anthony Portantino (D) will be Chair of the Committee on Appropriations.
• Senator Richard Pan (D) will be Chair of the Committee on Health.
• Senator Mike McGuire (D) is appointed to the Education Committee as a member to fill a current vacancy.
• Senator Ben Allen (D) remains the Chair of the Committee on Education.

Also in California… Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. (D) announced the appointment of Diana Dooley as Executive Secretary in the Office of Governor. She has served as Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency since 2011. Michael Wilkening was appointed Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, where he has served as Undersecretary since 2008.

Also in California… Assemblymember Kevin McCarty’s (D) opioid rebate bill (AB 2486) was significantly amended and is now an opioid tax. Chain pharmacies would be included in the definition of wholesaler and would be subject to the tax. The language also includes taxing intracompany transfers of opioids, which means intracompany transfers from a pharmacy warehouse to its own pharmacy would be subject to the tax.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.