The three medical marijuana bills left standing in Sacramento must now pass through the gauntlet of state Legislature scrutiny and recommended changes by Gov. Jerry Brown’s office after clearing a final round of committee hearings this week.

North Coast state Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, called the discussions on the bills a “team effort.”

“Both the Senate and Assembly appropriations (committees) passed each bill out and each bill is dependent on the other, which means we are all working together to pass the first medical cannabis legislation in 20 years,” he said.

However, contents of two of the bills — Assembly Bill 266 (Assemblyman Rob Bonta) and Assembly Bill 243 (North Coast Assemblyman Jim Wood) — were removed as part of the Senate Appropriation Committee’s approval vote on Thursday. The bills were also amended so that their enactment is contingent upon the passage of McGuire’s medical marijuana bill, Senate Bill 643. AB 243’s enactment is also contingent upon the passage of AB 266 after Thursday’s vote.

Before the end of the legislative session on Sept. 11, both houses of the Legislature and staff from Gov. Brown’s office will be in discussions about what the final structure of the bills, or bill, could be and how much enforcement of the regulations will cost the state.

Wood, D-Healdsburg, who authored the more environmental and tax-based regulations of Assembly Bill 243, issued a statement on Friday that the Legislature and governor’s staff are “very close to consensus to regulating medical marijuana,” but that plenty of work remains.

“There are still a lot of moving parts,” Wood wrote. “As we move into the final days of the legislative session, I am working closely with the administration to finalize the components of AB 243 so we can ensure this important legislation will be enacted. AB 243 provides a critical component in the overall regulation of the cannabis industry by creating a funding source to address the environmental devastation that is occurring in our forests and watersheds.”

As of Friday afternoon, the governor’s office had not come out with a public stance on any of the bills.

In their most recently published forms from Aug. 17, Senate Bill 643 and Assembly Bill 266 proposed much broader regulations on the medical marijuana industry, including a licensing and regulatory structure addressing factors such as grow sizes, edible quality, regional branding, and supply chain structuring. Both bills proposed a new state regulatory agency or office to be set up within an existing department, which would oversee implementation of the bill. The bills would have also allowed cities and counties to impose local taxes on the medical marijuana industry. However when the Senate Appropriations Committee approved AB 266 in a 5-0 vote on Thursday, the committee also voted “to delete contents of the bill, insert legislative intent, and make enactment contingent on 643,” Appropriations Committee Chairman and Senator Ricardo Lara stated at the committee hearing.

AB 243 was also passed in a 5-0 vote, with the committee also voting to “delete the contents of the bill, insert legislative intent, and make contingent upon the enactment of SB 643 and AB 266,” Lara said.

The most recently amended form of the three bills were not available on Friday.

AB 243 differs significantly from the other two bills as it proposes a statewide excise tax on medical cannabis products at the time of distribution. AB 243 also includes an urgency statute, which means it will take effect immediately upon passage. Both provisions require a two-thirds majority vote in both houses. The excise tax rate would be determined by the Board of Equalization and would be collected at the point and time of distribution based on the weight of the product.

SB 643 cleared the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Thursday in an 11-0 vote.

Legislative floor sessions begin on Aug. 31 and last through Sept. 11.

Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504.