---
type: "Bill"
title: "Cigarette and tobacco product licensing: fees and funding."
description: "The Cigarette and Tobacco Products Licensing Act of 2003 requires the State Board of Equalization to administer a statewide program to license manufacturers, importers, distributors, wholesalers, and retailers of cigarettes and tobacco products, and imposes various licensing fees. That act requires a retailer to have a license to engage in the sale of cigarette and tobacco products, and requires a separate license for each retail location. Existing law imposes a fee for each license and provides that the license is valid for a 12-month period. On and after January 1, 2017, existing law requires a license to be renewed annually and imposes a renewal fee."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20152016"
identifier: "AB 2770"
citation: "California AB 2770 (20152016)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Cigarette and tobacco product licensing: fees and funding."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Nazarian"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 26
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2016-02-19"
last_action: "2016-09-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/ef6f26b3-5eef-49d6-81d5-75df6e57deb3"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2770"
source_hash: "4df36a091e27a73c87d3fff09a979f1d362d3d97f88547874d10e2652a689777"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California AB 2770 (20152016) — Cigarette and tobacco product licensing: fees and funding.

The Cigarette and Tobacco Products Licensing Act of 2003 requires the State Board of Equalization to administer a statewide program to license manufacturers, importers, distributors, wholesalers, and retailers of cigarettes and tobacco products, and imposes various licensing fees. That act requires a retailer to have a license to engage in the sale of cigarette and tobacco products, and requires a separate license for each retail location. Existing law imposes a fee for each license and provides that the license is valid for a 12-month period. On and after January 1, 2017, existing law requires a license to be renewed annually and imposes a renewal fee.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/19/16 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2770&version=20150AB277099INT)
2. **05/12/16 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2770&version=20150AB277098AMD)
3. **06/16/16 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2770&version=20150AB277097AMD)
4. **08/15/16 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2770&version=20150AB277096AMD)
5. **09/27/16 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2770&version=20150AB277094CHP)
6. **AB2770** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2770)
7. **09/02/16 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2770&version=20150AB277095ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **8–0** (pass) · upper
- Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended — **5–2** (pass) · upper
- AB 2770 NAZARIAN Assembly Third Reading — **44–26** (pass) · lower
- AB 2770 NAZARIAN Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **50–28** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading AB2770 Nazarian By Beall — **27–11** (pass) · upper
- With recommendation: That Senate amendments be concurred in. — **11–6** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. — **14–6** (pass) · lower
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **12–8** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Nazarian — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2016-02-19** Introduced. To print. `introduction`
- **2016-02-21** From printer. May be heard in committee March 22.
- **2016-02-22** Read first time. `reading-1`
- **2016-03-10** Referred to Com. on G.O. `referral-committee`
- **2016-04-21** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 12. Noes 8.) (April 20). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-05-12** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on APPR. Read second time and amended. `reading-2, amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2016-05-16** Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee`
- **2016-05-18** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 14. Noes 6.) (May 18). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-05-19** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-05-27** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 44. Noes 26. Page 4955.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2016-05-27** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2016-06-09** Referred to Com. on B., P. & E.D. `referral-committee`
- **2016-06-16** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on B., P. & E.D. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2016-06-28** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 8. Noes 0.) (June 27). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-08-01** In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2016-08-11** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (August 11). `amendment-introduction, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2016-08-15** Read second time and amended. Ordered to third reading. `amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-08-17** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 27. Noes 11. Page 5048.). `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2016-08-17** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after August 19 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2016-08-18** Re-referred to Com. on G.O. pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.2. `referral-committee`
- **2016-08-31** From committee: That the Senate amendments be concurred in. (Ayes 11. Noes 6.) (August 30). `committee-passage`
- **2016-08-31** Assembly Rule 63 suspended. (Page 6544.)
- **2016-08-31** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 50. Noes 28. Page 6551.). `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2016-09-12** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 11:30 a.m.
- **2016-09-27** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2016-09-27** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 699, Statutes of 2016.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/ef6f26b3-5eef-49d6-81d5-75df6e57deb3`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).