Congratulations, if you’re reading this a law probably just passed or changed in your state, and you’re probably wondering when will you see an actual change? We’re hoping that it was a progressive marijuana law, but the table below refers to any new laws. Many times you you have to refer to the state initiative or ballot measure, but sometimes states have policies that make every law that recently passed effective on the same date. You can also read our state FAQs for cannabis friendly states:
Washington | Colorado | Oregon | Nevada | Alaska | California
Below is a list of states and when the typical effective dates for new laws occur:
| State | Effective Dates |
|---|---|
| Alabama | Enactment clauses specifying the effective date are included in each bill. |
| Alaska | Legislation becomes effective 90 days after enactment, including Saturdays and Sundays, unless specified otherwise within the bill. A bill becomes law if, while the Legislature is in session, the Governor neither signs nor vetoes it within 15 days, Sundays excepted, after its delivery to him. If the Legislature is not in session and the Governor neither signs nor vetoes a bill within 20 days, Sundays excepted, after its delivery to him, the bill becomes law. |
| Arizona | If the Governor signs the bill, the law takes effect immediately if it was emergency or Proposition 108 legislation; otherwise the law takes effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns sine die. Proposition 108 requires legislation that provides a net increase in state revenues to receive a two-thirds majority vote in each house of the Legislature. Such bills become effective immediately upon the governor’s signature |
| Arkansas | Unless there is an emergency clause or an enactment clause that specifies otherwise, the legislation takes effect 90 days after sine die adjournment. |
| California | Most bills go into effect on the first day of January of the following year. Urgency measures take effect immediately after they are signed or after they are allowed to become law without signature. |
| Colorado | If a bill contains a safety clause (meaning the bill is not subject to the citizens’ right to file a referendum petition against it), the bill takes effect on the date specified within it, or if no date is specified, then upon its passage (the date on which the Governor either approves the bill or allows it to become law without his signature). If a bill does not contain a safety clause, a special effective date clause explaining an alternative effective date will be added to the bill in lieu of the safety clause. Assuming that a referendum petition is not filed against a bill lacking a safety clause, the earliest the bill can take effect is the day after the expiration of the 90-day period following adjournment. If a referendum petition containing sufficient signatures is filed against a bill within the 90-day period, the bill cannot take effect until approved by the voters at an even-year statewide election. |
| Connecticut | The effective date is specified on the bill. Usually the date given is either July 1 or October 1. |
| Delaware | Bills take effect as soon as they are signed into law unless otherwise noted within an enactment clause in the bill. |
| District of Columbia | Most Council bills, with the exception of emergency legislation, contain clauses indicating that they take effect following approval by the Mayor, a 30-day period of Congressional review and publication in the District of Columbia Register. |
| Florida | Each law shall take effect on the 60th day after adjournment sine die of the session of the Legislature in which enacted or as otherwise provided within the bill. |
| Georgia | Legislation takes effect on July 1 unless otherwise specified within an enactment clause in the bill. |
| Guam | Effective dates are specified in the bill text. |
| Hawaii | Enactment clauses are included in each bill. |
| Idaho | In general, unless a bill contains an emergency clause or a clearly-indicated effective date, bills take effect 60 days following session adjournment (normally, July 1). |
| Illinois | If a bill has no express effective date, then the Effective Date of Laws Act, 5 ILCS 75/, supplies the date. If the bill passed prior to June 1, it takes effect the following January 1. If it passed after May 31, it takes effect June 1 of the following year. |
| Indiana | A bill takes effect upon the date indicated at the beginning of the relevant statutory section referenced in the bill. This applies to special session bills and bills that have passed without the Governor’s signature. |
| Iowa | All Acts and resolutions enacted during a regular session take effect on the first day of July following their passage, unless some other specified time is provided in the Act or resolution. All Acts and resolutions that are passed prior to July 1 during a regular session and are approved by the governor on or after July 1, take effect forty-five days after approval, unless some other specified time is provided in an Act or resolution. All Acts and resolutions passed during a special session of the general assembly take effect ninety days after adjournment of the special session unless a different effective date is stated in the Act or resolution. An Act which is effective upon enactment is effective upon the date of signature by the governor; or if the governor fails to sign it and returns it with objections, upon the date of passage by the general assembly after reconsideration; or if the governor fails to sign or return an Act submitted during session, but prior to the last three days of a session, on the fourth day after it is presented to the governor for the governor’s approval. An Act which has an effective date which is dependent upon the time of enactment shall have the time of enactment determined by the standards of this subsection. A concurrent or joint resolution which is effective upon enactment is effective upon the date of final passage by both chambers of the general assembly, except that such a concurrent or joint resolution requiring the approval of the governor or otherwise requiring the approval of the governor is effective upon the date of such approval. A resolution which is effective upon enactment is effective upon the date of passage. A concurrent or joint resolution or resolution which has an effective date which is dependent upon the time of enactment shall have the time of enactment determined by the standards of this subsection. |
| Kansas | The vast majority of the time effective dates are at the end of a bill. If there is no effective date noted, however, a bill becomes effective “upon publication in the statute book.” This is always July 1 of the year that the bill passed the Legislature. This rule applies to special session bills and bills that passed without the Governor’s signature. |
| Kentucky | Effective dates are normally noted in the text of the bill. If it is not noted, however, then the bill becomes effective 90 days after the official end of the session. The official end of the session is determined by the Attorney General. The 90-day rule applies to bills that pass into law without the Governor’s signature, as well as special sessions. For special sessions, a bill would become effective 90 days after the special session ends, as determined by the Attorney General. |
| Louisiana | If an effective date is not within the bill text, the bill will always become effective on August 15 of the year that the bill passed the Legislature (in 2012, this date changes to August 1). This rule also applies to bills that pass into law without the Governor’s signature. For special sessions, the bill would become effective 60 days after adjournment of the special session. |
| Maine | Effective dates are normally noted in the bill, but for bills that do not have an effective date, the bill becomes effective 90 days after the session has ended. This rule also applies to special sessions and bills that pass into law without the Governor’s signature. |
| Maryland | Bills will always have an effective date noted in the bill text. The only bills that will not have effective dates in the bill text are emergency bills. Emergency bills become effective on the day they are signed. |
| Massachusetts | The majority of bills will have effective dates within the bill text. If a bill does not have an effective date, then it will be effective 90 days after it was signed by the Governor. If a bill was not signed by the Governor, then it will become effective 90 days after the end of the session. |
| Michigan | Most bills will have an effective date noted in the text of the bill. If an effective date is not noted, however, and if the bill passed by a two-thirds vote, then the bill takes effect immediately. If the bill does not pass by a two-thirds vote, then the bill becomes effective 90 days after adjournment. |
| Minnesota | Most bills will have effective dates within the bill text. For bills that do not have effective dates noted in the text, the bills would become effective on August 1 of the year in which the bill passed the Legislature, except for appropriation bills. Appropriation bills become effective on July 1 of the fiscal year with which the bill applies. For special sessions, if the August 1 deadline has passed, then the bill will always have an effective date within the bill text. The above rules apply even if a bill passes without the Governor’s signature. |
| Mississippi | If a bill does not have an effective date within the bill text, then the bill becomes effective 60 days after passage. This includes bills passed during a special session and bills that have become effective without the Governor’s signature. |
| Missouri | If a bill does not have an effective date within the bill text, then the bill will become effective on August 28 of the year with which it passed the Legislature. If the bill is an emergency bill, then it is effective immediately unless otherwise noted within the bill. For special sessions, if there is no effective date within the text of the bill, then the bill becomes effective 90 days after adjournment of the special session. |
| Montana | If a bill does not have an effective date within the bill text, then the bill becomes effective on October 1 of the year that it passed the Legislature. For special sessions, bills become effective upon passage if an effective date is not within the bill text. |
| Nebraska | Bills without emergency clauses or effective dates specified in bill text become law three calendar months after the legislative session ends (Article III, Sec, 27 Nebr. Const.). Bills with emergency clauses become law the day after they are signed by the Governor. |
| Nevada | Bills without effective dates specified in bill text become effective on October 1. |
| New Hampshire | Effective dates for all bills are specified in bill text. |
| New Jersey | Bills without effective dates specified in bill text become effective on July 4 of the year after they are approved. |
| New Mexico | Bills without effective dates specified in bill text or emergency clauses become effective 90 days after adjournment of the Legislature. Bills with emergency clauses become effective upon signing by the Governor. |
| New York | Effective dates for all bills are specified in bill text. |
| North Carolina | Bills without effective dates specified in bill text become effective 60 days after adjournment of the session in which they passed. |
| North Dakota | Bills without effective dates specified in bill text become effective on August 1, unless they are appropriations or tax bills, in which case they become effective on July 1. Tax bills include any enforced contribution for public purposes (e.g., this would include fees). Emergency measures become effective when they are filed with the Secretary of State’s office, which is usually, but not always, the same day that the Governor signs the bill. |
| Ohio | Bills without effective dates specified in bill text become effective 90 days after signature by the Governor. If the Governor does not sign the bill, it becomes effective 90 days after the bill signing deadline passes. |
| Oklahoma | Bills without effective dates specified in bill text become effective 90 days after the session adjourns. Emergency measures become effective upon signing by the Governor. |
| Oregon | Except as otherwise provided in the Act, an Act of the Legislative Assembly takes effect on January 1 of the year after passage of the Act. |
| Pennsylvania | Effective dates for all bills are specified in bill text. |
| Rhode Island | Effective dates for all bills are specified in bill text. |
| South Carolina | A law becomes effective 20 days after approval by the Governor, unless a date is specified. Usually it becomes effective upon approval by the Governor. |
| South Dakota | The state Constitution provides that no law can take effect sooner than 90 days following the legislative session. In addition, existing state law sets the effective date of bills passed during the regular session at July 1, unless the new law itself lists a later effective date. The exception to this is a law that contains an emergency clause |
| Tennessee | No law of a general nature shall take effect until 40 days after its passage unless the same or the caption thereof shall state that the public welfare requires that it should take effect sooner. |
| Texas | No law passed by the Legislature, except the general appropriation act, shall take effect or go into force until 90 days after the adjournment of the session at which it was enacted, unless the Legislature shall, by a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, otherwise direct; said vote to be taken by yeas and nays, and entered upon the journals. The final vote is indicated on the signature page of an enacted bill. |
| US Virgin Islands | Effective dates are specified in the bill text. |
| Utah | Enacted bills are effective 60 days following adjournment, unless otherwise specified in the bill. |
| Vermont | If a bill does not contain an enactment clause, it becomes effective on July 1 after the session has ended. |
| Virginia | Bills that become law at a regular session (or the reconvened session that follows) are effective July 1 following adjournment of the regular session, unless otherwise specified. |
| Washington | Laws go into effect 90 days after the adjournment of the session, unless specified otherwise. |
| West Virginia | No act of the Legislature shall take effect until the expiration of 90 days after its passage, unless the Legislature shall by a vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house, taken by yeas and nays, otherwise direct. |
| Wisconsin | Unless otherwise specified, the date of enactment of a bill is one day after the date of publication. |
| Wyoming | Each bill contains an enactment clause that indicates when the law shall become effective. |
This table was provided by: State Scape
Summary
Article Name
Effective Dates for Legislation
Description
Congratulations, if you're reading this a law probably just passed or changed in your state, and you're probably wondering when will you see an actual change? We're hoping that it was a progressive marijuana law, but the table below refers to any new laws.
Author
Chase Nobles
Kush Tourism
