---
type: "Bill"
title: "Alcoholic beverages: beer returns."
description: "Existing law, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, which is administered by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, allows a wholesaler or manufacturer of beer to accept the return of a beer from a retail licensee under specified conditions. In this regard, existing law allows, with department approval, a wholesaler or manufacturer, or a successor, to accept the return of a seasonal brand of beer from a retail licensee if the beer is exchanged for a quantity of beer of a brand produced or sold by the same manufacturer with a value no greater than the original sales price to the retail licensee of the returned beer."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20232024"
identifier: "AB 1940"
citation: "California AB 1940 (20232024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Alcoholic beverages", "beer returns"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Villapudua"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 19
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2024-01-29"
last_action: "2024-09-12"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/889dbb02-91b0-4d26-8539-6a29b111c8de"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1940"
source_hash: "078ac24d988d92f41f2ada4790df682002dea1484cdcbb857d9c5c46d50d148c"
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 1940 (20232024) — Alcoholic beverages: beer returns.

Existing law, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, which is administered by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, allows a wholesaler or manufacturer of beer to accept the return of a beer from a retail licensee under specified conditions. In this regard, existing law allows, with department approval, a wholesaler or manufacturer, or a successor, to accept the return of a seasonal brand of beer from a retail licensee if the beer is exchanged for a quantity of beer of a brand produced or sold by the same manufacturer with a value no greater than the original sales price to the retail licensee of the returned beer.

## Version chain

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

1. **01/29/24 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1940&version=20230AB194099INT)
2. **09/12/24 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1940&version=20230AB194097CHP)
3. **AB1940** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1940)
4. **08/28/24 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1940&version=20230AB194098ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass. To Consent Calendar. — **15–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **12–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **21–0** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading AB1940 Villapudua By Dodd — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- AB 1940 Villapudua Consent Calendar Second Day — **75–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Villapudua — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-29** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2024-01-30** From printer. May be heard in committee February 29.
- **2024-02-12** Referred to Com. on G.O. `referral-committee`
- **2024-04-04** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 21. Noes 0.) (April 3). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2024-04-17** From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (April 17). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-04-18** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2024-04-25** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 75. Noes 0. Page 4996.) `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2024-04-25** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2024-05-08** Referred to Com. on G.O. `referral-committee`
- **2024-05-28** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (May 28). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2024-06-10** From committee: Be ordered to second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8 and ordered to Consent Calendar. `committee-passage, reading-2`
- **2024-06-11** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2024-06-13** From Consent Calendar.
- **2024-06-13** Ordered to third reading.
- **2024-08-26** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 39. Noes 0.). `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2024-08-26** In Assembly. Ordered to Engrossing and Enrolling. `committee-passage`
- **2024-09-03** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3:30 p.m.
- **2024-09-12** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2024-09-12** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 218, Statutes of 2024. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/889dbb02-91b0-4d26-8539-6a29b111c8de`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).