September 01, 2023 | CRA Newsletter: Legislative, Budget, Regulatory, Local, Political & Other Updates
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Message from the President
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What a week. As we approach the final two weeks of the legislative session, I am proud of what the CRA team as already accomplished. I hope you will take a few minutes to read all of what the CRA team has been working on below.
This week we have two HUGE CRA wins! We negotiated with the Governor and author of SB 553 (Workplace Violence) resulting in CRA removing our opposition and, because of CRA's leadership and advocacy, we were able to keep AB 1347 (receipts bill) from moving to the Senate floor.
I hope you will consider joining us next month in Irvine for our Annual Meeting (details below). We have a great agenda and look forward to having robust conversations with members on issues important to the retail industry in California.
Rachel
In this Issue:
- Legislative Updates
- Regulatory Updates
- CA Community Pharmacy Coalition Updates
- CRA Annual Meeting
- CRA Outreach and Activities
- CRA In The News
- Cal-ORCA Updates
- CRA Member Portal
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All legislative advocacy letters are available on CRA's member portal. Access the portal here.
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All regulatory advocacy letters are available on CRA's member portal. Access the portal here.
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California Community Pharmacy Coalition Updates
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Legislative Updates
The CRA team sent counter amendments on AB 1286 to Assemblymember Haney's office and the Board of Pharmacy. The team met with Haney's office to discuss specifics of the counter amendments and has started outreach to the Governor's office in an effort to get the best possible scenario for our members in the bill. The bill will be heard on the Senate Floor next.
The CRA team requested Asm. Berman remove the word 'oral' in his AB 1341 related to the dispensing of control substances for substance abuse disorder, allowing for more flexibility for the types of products being used for the disorder. This will be a good fix for our members if it makes it through the legislative process and is signed by the Governor.
The CRA team and members of the CCPC met to discuss strategy related to enforcement of SB 362 (pharmacy quotas bill from 2021). As discussed, Melissa Starry with Albertsons offered to submit questions to the Board of Pharmacy’s “Ask an Inspector” inbox. If you have any questions you’d like Melissa to submit, please send them to her at Melissa.starry@albertsons.com. The CRA team is also working on two letters that will be to/from Senator Newman. CRA President and CEO Rachel Michelin has been in direct communication with Sen. Newman on this issue. He reiterated his willingness to work with us to ensure SB 362 is being implemented consistent with its intent. The CCPC will wait until after session adjourns/AB 1286 is dispensed to meet with him.
Board of Pharmacy
The Board of Pharmacy is holding their next board meeting on Tuesday, September 12. View the Board Agenda HERE. Included in the agenda is a discussion and consideration of a draft proposed policy statement related to implementation of USP General Chapters 795 Pharmaceutical Compounding – Nonsterile Preparations; 797 Pharmaceutical Compounding – Sterile Preparations; 800 Hazardous Drugs – Handling in Healthcare Settings; and 825 Radiopharmaceuticals – Preparation, Compounding, Dispensing, and Repackaging. CRA will be attending the meeting and report back to the CCPC.
Medi-Cal RX
The California Department of Health Care Services has released FAQs related to the recommencement of Medi-Cal pharmacy retroactive claims adjustments. Access the FAQs HERE. As a reminder, the recoupment process begins this month with recoupments resuming in October.
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CRA Outreach and Activities
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CRA Annual Meeting
Early Bird Discount Ends THIS Monday, September 4
Program Agenda Now Available
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CRA's Annual Meeting is quickly approaching! We are looking forward to seeing everyone on Monday, October 2 and Tuesday, October 3 at the Irvine Marriott located at 18000 Von Karman Ave, Irvine, CA 92612. Special guests include:
- Senator Josh Newman, Author of Senate Bill 707
- Commissioner Sean Duryee, California Highway Patrol
- Honorable Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, President and CEO, Public Policy Institute of California
- Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Resig
- California District Attorneys Association CEO Greg Totten
- National Stewardship Action Council Executive Director Heidi Sanborn, MPA
- Jim Gatto, seasoned veteran of AI
- And More!
Topics include Retail Theft/ORC; Environmental Sustainability and Extended Producer Responsibility including updates and discussion on SB 54 and SB 1013; Labor & Employment issues; 2024 political forecast; updates on the California legislative and regulatory environment.
Agenda Now Available. View the Agenda HERE.
Tickets and sponsorship packages are going fast and we will sell out. Register/sponsor today so you do not miss out out on this great education, information sharing and networking opportunity between policy leaders and members of the retailers and larger business community. For questions email sarah@calretailers.com.
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Thank you to Our Sponsors!
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ORC Retail Theft Grant Information
The Budget Act of 2022 (Senate Bill 154) established the Organized Retail Theft (ORT) Prevention Grant Program. Per the state Budget Act, funding for the Organized Retail Theft Grant Program shall be for competitive grants for city police departments, county sheriffs’ departments, and probation departments. Grant funds shall be used to support local law enforcement agencies in preventing and responding to organized retail theft, motor vehicle or motor vehicle accessory theft, or cargo theft.
Grants have already been submitted by law enforcement agencies across the state and the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) will finalize the recipients of the grant money mid-September with the grant period commencing October 1, 2023 and lasting through the end of 2026. CRA will update our members on those local agencies who have been selected and, if you have not already done so, we recommend members to contact those agencies to see how retailers can be helpful partners.
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The CRA team attended the Council of State Retail Associations (CSRA) Annual Meeting, which was held in San Diego. As California was the host state this year, with CRA President and CEO on the CSRA Board of Directors, the CRA team had a large role in the conference programming. Included at the event was a panel focused on Pharmacy's role in advancing health care access and equity. The panel was moderated by Michelin and included the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, National Association of Chain Drug Stores and CVS health.
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CRA Monthly Policy Calls
The following includes the remainder of the 2023 monthly policy call calendar covering this year's legislative session (dates are subject to change). For CRA members' designated contacts who are not regularly receiving these policy call reminders and calendar invites, please email cra@calretailers.com to be added moving forward. Policy calls are held on Fridays at 11:00am PT.
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In Case You Missed It...
NBC Nightly News
Inside Edition
NBC News
National Review
Los Angeles Daily News
CBS Los Angeles
CBS Los Angeles
AB 10 Sacramento
CBS 13 Sacramento
ABC 7 Los Angeles
ABC 7 Los Angeles
KRON 4 San Francisco
KNX News 97.1 FM
Chico Enterprise-Record
Laist
MSN News
The Deep Dive
The US Sun
The US Sun
The Downey Patriot
BizPac Review
The Mercury News
The Christian Science Monitor
Americans for Tax Reform
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NEW Cal-ORCA Virtual Summit to be Released November 8
Sessions Include:
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An Insider’s Look at the Evolution of the Threat Landscape: New Strategies for Successfully Preventing Retail Violence Presented by Dr. Larry Barton, Laurence Barton, LLC
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Partnerships and Leadership: Combatting Organized Retail Crime and Retail Theft Presented by Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig
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Update on Organized Retail Task Forces Presented by the California Highway Patrol
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Homeland Security Investigation's Efforts to Combat Organized Retail Crime, Cargo Theft and Organized Theft Groups Presented by Raul O. Aguilar, Deputy Assistant Director, Transnational Organized Crime Financial & Fraud Division, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, US Department of Homeland Security
- And more to be announced
Thank you to our sponsors!
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Organized by the California Organized Retail Crime Association (CAL-ORCA) and the California Retailers Association (CRA), this virtual package serves as a vital resource for law enforcement agencies, loss prevention, asset protection and other key stakeholders to reference in their continued and important work in combatting organized retail crime in California. The virtual package also serves as Cal-ORCA’s preview of next year’s in-person live event, details of which will be announced soon. This year’s virtual package will be distributed to 250+ law enforcement and retail/restaurant loss prevention representatives from 100+ California law enforcement agencies and 100+ retail companies. The package will offer important and timely perspectives and training, as well as provide private sector solution providers an opportunity to join the discussion and promote products and services.
Founded in 2012, The California Organized Retail Crimes Association (CAL-ORCA) is an organization dedicated to fostering partnerships between law enforcement and loss prevention professionals to provide training, combat Organized Retail Crime (ORC) and other crimes impacting the business community. Cal-ORCA will be releasing it's exclusive 2023 Virtual Summit offering later this year, on Wednesday, November 8. Stay tuned for details!
To Stay up to date on Virtual Summit details including registration, sponsor opportunities and the developing program, visit Cal-ORCA.org and be sure to follow Cal-ORCA on social media!
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Follow CRA on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Instgram to stay up to date on the latest developments in statewide and local legislation and policies, regulations, relevant industry and member related news and association events.
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