In early 2023, the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee and the Assembly Committee on Business and Professions began their extensive sunset review oversight of eight regulatory entities, among them the Medical Board of California (MBC).

Since 2013, when pharmacists were first classified as healthcare providers by statute,¹ pharmacist advocates have worked to expand their scope of authority in various areas.

California is one of 26 states and the District of Columbia that provides its registered voters the opportunity to legislate via the ballot box. Voters legislate either through the direct initiative process or the veto referendum process.

In California, based on data available from the Department of Public Health as of January 4, 2023, there were 7,175 opioid-related overdose deaths in 2021, with 5,961 being fentanyl-related. Amongst those, 236 were teens aged 15 to 19. Another staggering data point on this report is the 21,016 emergency department visits related to opioid overdoses in 2021.

Legislators returned to Sacramento on January 4th, 2023, to kick off a new two-year legislative cycle, which began with Governor Newsom presenting his 2023-2024 state budget proposal on January 10th.