---
type: "Bill"
title: "Pharmacy benefits."
description: "Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care, and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires a pharmacy benefit manager engaging in business with a health care service plan or health insurer to secure a license from the Department of Managed Health Care on or after January 1, 2027, or the date on which the department has established the licensure process, whichever is later."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20252026"
identifier: "SB 41"
citation: "California SB 41 (20252026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Pharmacybenefits"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Wiener"]
version_count: 11
action_count: 35
vote_count: 10
first_action: "2024-12-03"
last_action: "2025-10-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/4fb219b6-66c0-475e-b941-faccb62854be"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB41"
source_hash: "f1033797ef785b38759961f5b6563969e2e7f11f641a204ad8d896de3085ccf4"
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 SB 41 (20252026) — Pharmacy benefits.

Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care, and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires a pharmacy benefit manager engaging in business with a health care service plan or health insurer to secure a license from the Department of Managed Health Care on or after January 1, 2027, or the date on which the department has established the licensure process, whichever is later.

## Version chain

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

1. **12/03/24 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB41&version=20250SB4199INT)
2. **03/17/25 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB41&version=20250SB4198AMD)
3. **05/01/25 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB41&version=20250SB4197AMD)
4. **06/30/25 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB41&version=20250SB4196AMD)
5. **07/09/25 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB41&version=20250SB4195AMD)
6. **07/17/25 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB41&version=20250SB4194AMD)
7. **09/02/25 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB41&version=20250SB4193AMD)
8. **09/04/25 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB41&version=20250SB4192AMD)
9. **10/11/25 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB41&version=20250SB4190CHP)
10. **SB41** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB41)
11. **09/12/25 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB41&version=20250SB4191ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass as amended. — **11–0** (pass) · lower
- Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **11–0** (pass) · lower
- Unfinished Business SB41 Wiener et al. Concurrence — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- SB 41 Wiener Senate Third Reading By Bonta — **69–2** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading SB41 Wiener et al. — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Judiciary] — **14–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass — **6–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Judiciary] — **11–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **13–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Wiener — primary (person)
- Bonta — principal coauthor (person)
- Hadwick — principal coauthor (person)
- Pellerin — coauthor (person)
- Schiavo — principal coauthor (person)
- Wahab — author (person)
- Weber Pierson — principal coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-12-03** Introduced. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction`
- **2024-12-04** From printer. May be acted upon on or after January 3.
- **2025-01-06** Read first time. `reading-1`
- **2025-01-29** Referred to Coms. on HEALTH and JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2025-03-17** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on HEALTH. `amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2025-04-02** Set for hearing April 23.
- **2025-04-08** Set for hearing April 29 in JUD. pending receipt.
- **2025-04-24** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 11. Noes 0. Page 867.) (April 23). Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2025-04-30** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 13. Noes 0. Page 938.) (April 29). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2025-05-01** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2025-05-02** Set for hearing May 12.
- **2025-05-12** May 12 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file.
- **2025-05-16** Set for hearing May 23.
- **2025-05-23** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 6. Noes 0. Page 1189.) (May 23). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-05-23** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2025-05-28** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 37. Noes 0. Page 1276.) Ordered to the Assembly. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2025-05-28** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2025-06-05** Referred to Coms. on HEALTH and JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2025-06-30** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on HEALTH. `amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2025-07-09** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (July 8). Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2025-07-09** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2025-07-16** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (July 15). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-07-17** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2025-08-20** August 20 set for first hearing. Placed on APPR. suspense file.
- **2025-08-29** From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (August 29). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-09-02** Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2025-09-03** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2025-09-04** Read third time and amended. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2025-09-04** Ordered to third reading.
- **2025-09-09** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 69. Noes 2. Page 3081.) Ordered to the Senate. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2025-09-09** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2025-09-10** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 40. Noes 0. Page 2819.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-09-17** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m.
- **2025-10-11** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2025-10-11** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 605, Statutes of 2025. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/4fb219b6-66c0-475e-b941-faccb62854be`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).