SB1224 - The California Emerging Therapies Research Partnership Act.

Amended IN Assembly June 11, 2026 Amended IN Senate May 14, 2026 Amended IN Senate April 14, 2026 Amended IN Senate March 23, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Senate Bill No. 1224 Introduced by Senator Jones (Principal coauthors: Senators Becker and Wiener) (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Lowenthal) February 19, 2026 An act to add Section 12740.5 to the Insurance Code, relating to insurance. Division 10.3 (commencing with Section 11730) to the Health and Safety Code, relating to controlled substances, and making an appropriation therefor. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1224, as amended, Jones. Home protection contracts. The California Emerging Therapies Research Partnership Act. Existing law, the California Uniform Controlled Substances Act, classifies controlled substances into 5 schedules and places the greatest restrictions and penalties on the use of substances placed in Schedule I. Existing law classifies, among others, psilocybin, ibogaine, and dimethyltryptamine as Schedule I substances, classifies ketamine as a Schedule III substance, and prohibits various actions related to those substances, including their sale, possession, transportation, manufacture, or cultivation. Existing law authorizes a person who is lawfully entitled to use specified controlled substances under applicable federal laws or regulations to obtain and use those substances for approved purposes in bona fide research, instruction, or analysis. This bill, the California Emerging Therapies Research Partnership Act, would establish the California Emerging Therapies Research Partnership Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, within the State Treasury, to be administered by the State Department of Health Care Services (department) and the Department of Veterans Affairs, to, among other things, issue grants to a University of California campus to serve as an anchor institution for a federally registered emerging therapies clinical trial. The bill would define “emerging therapies” for these purposes to mean psilocybin, ibogaine, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, dimethyltryptamine, and ketamine when used in the context of a federally registered clinical trial, as specified. The bill would prohibit General Fund moneys from being deposited into the fund and would authorize the fund to receive federal grants, awards, and partnership payments and gifts, bequests, and philanthropic contributions made to the state, upon appropriation by the Legislature. The bill would prohibit the use of fund moneys for, among other things, purchasing, distributing, or administering a controlled substance. By creating a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. This bill would require the California Health and Human Services Agency (agency), in coordination with the department, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the office of the President of the University of California, to submit a complete application for partnership designation to the federal Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), as specified. The bill would require the department, within 90 days of receiving ARPA-H partnership designation, to execute a data-sharing memorandum of understanding with specified federal agencies to establish protocols for the sharing of deidentified, aggregated clinical trial outcome data. The bill would authorize specified legislative committees to request interim briefings from the agency on the status of the ARPA-H partnership application and would require the agency to respond to a request for briefing within 30 days. The bill would require the department to request that the University of California participate in specific activities. This bill would require the office of the President of the University of California to submit a readiness certification to the agency, the Department of Finance, and the Legislature, as specified. The bill would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to convene the California Veteran Emerging Therapies Research Advisory Council, with specified membership, to, among other things, serve as the primary advisory body to the department, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the agency on matters relating to emerging therapies research for veterans and other priority populations. The bill would require the council to submit a needs assessment to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the agency, and the Legislature, as specified. The bill would require the agency to submit a federal readiness report to the Legislature and the Department of Finance, no later than January 1, 2028, that addresses, among other things, the status of California’s ARPA-H partnership designation and the total amount of federal moneys received, as specified. This bill would provide that its provisions are severable. Existing law regulates home protection companies that issue home protection contracts, as defined, to repair or replace components, systems, and appliances of a home for a specified period of time. Existing law requires the contract to provide a system of service for effectuating a repair or replacement of the system, component, or appliance. This bill would authorize a home protection company to make a cash payment in lieu of repair or replacement of the system, component, or appliance after making a determination, as specified, including when the repair is impossible or economically wasteful, the repair or replacement exceeds the contract aggregate, or the consumer has voluntarily accepted a cash payment. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY 2/3 Appropriation: NO YES Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (1) California is home to the largest concentration of federally registered emerging psychedelic therapies clinical trials in the United States, anchored at the University of California campuses at San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Berkeley, and Davis. (2) On April 18, 2026, the President of the United States issued an executive order directing the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) to allocate a minimum of $50,000,000 in federal research partnership funds to states that establish qualifying emerging therapies research programs. (3) The State of Texas has committed more than $100,000,000 in state funds to ibogaine and psilocybin clinical research and is actively applying for ARPA-H federal partnership designation, which creates competitive urgency for California. (4) More than 6,000 veterans die by suicide in the United States each year, at a rate approximately twice that of the civilian population. Emerging psychedelic-assisted therapies show significant clinical promise in treating post-traumatic stress disorder, treatment-resistant depression, and opioid use disorder in veteran populations. (5) In 2023, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed Senate Bill 58, citing the need for a regulated therapeutic framework before California expanded access to psychedelic substances. The California Emerging Therapies Research Partnership Act is that framework. It is a research infrastructure and federal funding capture strategy that does not alter California’s controlled substances law, does not create a therapeutic access program, and does not authorize personal use. (6) Assembly Bill 1103, enacted in 2025, establishes California’s procedural foundation for expedited psychedelic research approvals. This act, the California Emerging Therapies Research Partnership Act, builds upon that foundation by creating the institutional structure and federal partnership mandate necessary to make California a qualifying ARPA-H partner state. (b) It is the intent of the Legislature to authorize California to receive federal emerging therapies research funds through the University of California system, to direct the relevant state agencies to apply for such funds without delay, and to establish accountability mechanisms to report progress to the Legislature. SEC. 2. Division 10.3 (commencing with Section 11730) is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read: DIVISION 10.3. California Emerging Therapies Research Partnership Act 11730. This division shall be known, and may be cited, as the California Emerging Therapies Research Partnership Act. 11730.5. For purposes of this division, the following definitions apply: (a) “Agency” means the California Health and Human Services Agency. (b) “ARPA-H” means the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health within the United States Department of Health and Human Services. (c) “Emerging therapies” means psilocybin, ibogaine, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, dimethyltryptamine, and ketamine when used in the context of a federally registered clinical trial conducted under an investigational new drug application that is approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration. (d) “Federally registered clinical trial” means a clinical research study registered with ClinicalTrials.gov conducted pursuant to a United States Food and Drug Administration-approved investigational new drug, a research exemption pursuant to Section 56.104 of Subpart A of Part 56 of Subchapter A of Chapter I of Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations, or an equivalent federal authorization. (e) “Fund” means the California Emerging Therapies Research Partnership Fund established pursuant to Section 11731. 11730.9. The State Department of Health Care Services shall request that the University of California participate in the activities described in this division. 11731. (a) The California Emerging Therapies Research Partnership Fund, a special deposit fund, is hereby established within the State Treasury. (1) Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, moneys in the fund are continuously appropriated to the State Department of Health Care Services and the Department of Veterans Affairs without regard to fiscal year and shall be used for the purposes set forth in this division. (2) Moneys in the fund are not General Fund revenues and are not subject to appropriation in the annual Budget Act. (b) The fund may receive any of the following: (1) Federal grants, awards, and partnership payments received pursuant to a ARPA-H partnership designation or a substantially similar federal emerging therapies research program. (2) Federal grants or research awards received from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Institutes of Health, or another federal agency in connection with emerging therapies clinical research. (3) Gifts, bequests, and philanthropic contributions made to the state for emerging therapies research purposes, upon appropriation by the Legislature. (c) General Fund moneys shall not be deposited into the fund. The existence of the fund does not constitute a commitment of state funds or a General Fund obligation of any kind. 11731.5. (a) Moneys in the fund shall be used only for the following purposes: (1) Issue grants to a University of California campus to serve as an anchor institution for a federally registered emerging therapies clinical trial, including direct costs of trial operations, patient recruitment infrastructure, and data reporting. (2) Costs incurred by the State Department of Health Care Services in executing and maintaining data-sharing memoranda of understanding with the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the United States Food and Drug Administration, and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. (3) Costs incurred by the Department of Veterans Affairs in convening and staffing the California Veteran Emerging Therapies Research Advisory Council convened pursuant to Section 11735. (4) Administrative costs of the State Department of Health Care Services and the office of the President of the University of California in implementing this division, not to exceed 5 percent of funds received in a fiscal year. (b) Moneys in the fund shall not be used to do any of the following: (1) Purchase, distribute, or administer a controlled substance. (2) Establish a therapeutic access program. (3) Support an activity that is not specifically authorized in this division. 11732. (a) No later than 60 days after the operative date of the act that added this division, the agency, in coordination with the State Department of Health Care Services, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the office of the President of the University of California, shall submit a complete application for partnership designation pursuant to the April 18, 2026, executive order or any substantially equivalent federal program to ARPA-H for the purpose of making California eligible to receive federal emerging therapies research moneys. (b) The application submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall include, at minimum, all of the following: (1) The University of California System Research Readiness Certification submitted by the office of the President of the University of California pursuant to Section 11734. (2) A description of the California Emerging Therapies Research Partnership Fund and its legal authority to receive federal awards. (3) A description of the California Veteran Emerging Therapies Research Advisory Council convened pursuant to Section 11735. (4) A data-sharing framework demonstrating California’s capacity to share deidentified clinical trial outcome data with federal partner agencies in compliance with applicable federal privacy law. (5) Within 90 days of partnership designation, a proposed schedule for execution of data-sharing memoranda of understanding with the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the United States Food and Drug Administration, and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. (c) If ARPA-H or a substantially similar federal program issues supplemental guidance, an amendment to application requirements, or an alternative funding vehicle after the effective date of this division, the agency shall amend or supplement California’s application, as necessary, to maintain eligibility and notify the Legislature within 30 days of a material change to the federal program requirements. 11732.5. (a) The Joint Legislative Budget Committee, the Assembly Committee on Health, the Senate Committee on Health, the Assembly Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs, and the Senate Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs may request an interim briefing from the agency on the status of the ARPA-H partnership application at any time following its submission. (b) The agency shall respond to a request submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) within 30 days. 11733. (a) Within 90 days of receiving ARPA-H partnership designation, the State Department of Health Care Services shall execute a data-sharing memorandum of understanding with each of the following federal agencies: (1) The United States Department of Health and Human Services. (2) The United States Food and Drug A [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]