Magic Mushrooms San Diego
MenuCloseMore guides

San Diego,

Three psychedelic bills stalled in Sacramento; a budget line passed

Three California bills on psychedelic research for veterans, including SB 1224 by a San Diego County senator, Brian Jones, stalled or died in committee in 2026. The one psychedelic item that became law is a 4.7 million dollar line for veterans' research in AB 113, a budget bill signed September 18.

By the Magic Mushrooms San Diego desk.

Which psychedelic bills stalled in 2026?

Three bills that would have put state money or state authority behind psychedelic research for veterans ran out of road.

Bill and authorWhat it would have doneWhere it stopped
SB 1224, Sen. Brian Jones (R)Created a state fund, run by the Department of Health Care Services and CalVet, for grants to a University of California campus anchoring federally registered trials of psilocybin, ibogaine, MDMA, DMT or ketamineHeld in Assembly Appropriations, August 13, 2026312
AB 2489, Asm. Josh Lowenthal (D)The "California Veterans' Right to Try Act": let the state Research Advisory Panel seek FDA approval for a Schedule I or II drug trial open only to veteransHeld under submission in Assembly Appropriations, May 14, 20264
SB 751, Sens. Josh Becker (D) and Brian Jones (R)Asked the University of California to run psilocybin pilots in up to five counties for veterans and former first responders 21 and olderHeld in Senate Appropriations May 23, 2025; died under Joint Rule 56 on February 2, 20265

The California Constitution bars ordinary bills from passing either house on or after September 1 of an even-numbered year, and a first-year bill that hasn't cleared its house of origin by January 31 of the second year can't move.2

What happened to SB 1224?

SB 1224 started on February 19, 2026, as a bill about home protection contracts and passed the Senate 39-0 in that form on May 28. On June 11, the Assembly amended it into the California Emerging Therapies Research Partnership Act.312

The new version cleared the Assembly Health Committee 14-0 on June 23 and the Military and Veterans Affairs Committee 8-0 on June 30. It went to the Appropriations suspense file on August 5 and was held there on August 13.3

As amended, the fund could take federal money and private gifts but no General Fund money. The bill also required the state to apply to ARPA-H, a federal health research agency, for partnership designation, and called for a veterans advisory council.12

What did become law?

AB 113, which amends the Budget Act of 2026, passed both houses on September 1: 29-4 in the Senate and 61-11 on final Assembly concurrence. It was approved and chaptered on September 18 as Chapter 248, Statutes of 2026.613 As a budget bill with an urgency clause, it wasn't bound by the September 1 cutoff.27

Section 11 lists $4.7 million in the budget of the Secretary of California Health and Human Services under "0287-California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine." Provision 8 says that money "is for the California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine for veterans' psychedelic research."7

That sentence is all the enacted text says; it names no substance, campus or study. Hoodline reported that the new law "absorbed language from Senate Bill 1224."14 The chaptered text we read contains the funding sentence but none of SB 1224's fund, grant, ARPA-H or advisory council provisions.7

Research money doesn't change possession law. Psilocybin is still a Schedule I substance under Health and Safety Code 11054(d)(18).11

Why does this matter in San Diego?

SB 1224's author represents a big slice of the county: his 40th Senate District includes Escondido, Poway, San Marcos and Santee; San Diego neighborhoods such as Mira Mesa, Rancho Bernardo and Scripps Ranch; and unincorporated communities including Alpine, Fallbrook, Lakeside, Ramona and Valley Center.10

Jones also co-authored SB 751 and, in 2024, SB 803, the "Heal Our Heroes Act." SB 803 would have let the health officers of San Diego County, San Francisco and Santa Cruz County each approve up to five psilocybin facilitation centers for screened veterans and former first responders over 21. Its Assembly Health hearing was canceled at the author's request in June 2024, and the bill died when the session ended.89

None of the 2026 bills would have changed the penalties for psilocybin under California law. For research already running here, see our San Diego clinical trials directory, and our California psychedelics bill tracker logs each bill since 2019 with its recorded votes.

What happens next

  1. The 2025-26 session adjourns at midnight, and SB 1224 and AB 2489 die with it.1
  2. The Legislature convenes its 2027-28 session on the first Monday in December.1 Any of these proposals would need a new bill.
  3. No date setWe found no public spending plan yet for the AB 113 money.

Sources

  1. California Constitution, Article IV, Section 3. Justia (accessed October 21, 2026).
  2. California Constitution, Article IV, Section 10. Justia (accessed October 21, 2026).
  3. SB 1224, California Emerging Therapies Research Partnership Act: bill status and history. California Legislative Information (bill history read from the Legislature's official data export, accessed October 21, 2026).
  4. AB 2489, California Veterans' Right to Try Act: bill status and history. California Legislative Information (accessed October 21, 2026).
  5. SB 751, Veterans and Former First Responders Research Pilot Program: bill status and history. California Legislative Information (accessed October 21, 2026).
  6. AB 113, Budget Act of 2026: votes. California Legislative Information (accessed October 21, 2026).
  7. AB 113, Budget Act of 2026: chaptered text, Chapter 248, Statutes of 2026 (Section 11, Item 0530-001-0001, Provision 8). California Legislative Information, chaptered September 18, 2026.
  8. SB 803 (2023 to 2024 session), Heal Our Heroes Act: bill status and history. California Legislative Information (accessed October 21, 2026).
  9. SB 803, Heal Our Heroes fact sheet. Office of Sen. Brian Jones, California State Senate, 2024.
  10. Biography, Senator Brian Jones. California State Senate (accessed October 21, 2026).
  11. California Health and Safety Code Section 11054. Justia, 2025 California Code (accessed October 21, 2026).
  12. SB 1224: The California Emerging Therapies Research Partnership Act. CalMatters Digital Democracy (accessed October 21, 2026).
  13. AB 113: Budget Act of 2026. CalMatters Digital Democracy (accessed October 21, 2026).
  14. California puts 4.7 million into psychedelic therapy research for veterans. Hoodline, September 22, 2026.

Keep reading