While annual licenses have been rolling out across the state of California and her municipalities this year, it’s not gone smoothly. With the rollout of annuals we’re seeing temporary licenses expire before their holders can get their new annual due to delays and technically unable to do business because #compliance.

However, the California State Senate has approved a bill that extends temporary licenses, and that same bill seems likely to pass a House vote. Fingers crossed this will be putting an end to the persnickety issue around timing. As Lindsay Robinson, executive director of the CCIA, explained in a statement passage of this bill is “critical.”

Why is passage so critical? Well, the big reason is continuing stability of the still nascent regulated market here in Cali. As we discussed earlier this year, Gavin Newsom has already assigned National Guard troops to aid with enforcement and to crack down on illegal operations in the northern part of the state. California’s regulated cannabis market is still at the “Bambi on ice” moment and it needs assistance from the state, not issues with rolling out annual licenses.

Stability is a priority for all in California’s legalized cannabis industry as we work through Year 2. The chronic (pun!) problem of the Golden State’s unregulated cultivators and distributors is a serious drag on revenue (for businesses and the state’s tax coffers alike). While the promise inherent to passage of the SAFE bill (banking, business loans, not operating in a cash-only industry ripe for illegality) would go a long way in driving unregulated businesses towards compliance, California has to help itself too. Expediting licensing and building reasonable measures to bridge any gaps between temporary and annual licenses is a sure way to build goodwill between state regulators and businesses frustrated by the complexity and hurdles they’ve dealt with as California continues to refine the legal market.