New Jersey's S4635 Isn't a December 11 Law Yet. November 13 Still Is.

Update, Oct 30, 2026: S4635 passed the Assembly 75-2 on Oct 29 and now waits on the Governor. It is still a pending bill, and Nov 13 controls until it is signed. Latest: New Jersey S4635 Passes Both Houses; Nov 13 Still Controls Until It's Signed.

By Chris Girard, Thynk Industries

If you sell hemp beverages in New Jersey, you've heard the date moved.

It didn't. A bill says it might.

Those are two very different things, and the gap between them is about four weeks wide.

Where it stands today

It's Monday, October 26, 2026.

S4635, the Senate bill, passed the Senate 37 to 0 on October 22. A5604, the Assembly twin, was reported out of Assembly Appropriations the same day and sits on Second Reading. The official calendar, prepared October 23, lists both on the Assembly's voting session for Thursday, October 29 at 1:00 PM.

No Assembly floor vote yet. No Governor action. No chapter number.

That means it is not law. Not today.

The law that is law

P.L. 2026, chapter 13. Approved May 29, 2026. Effective immediately. It amended last winter's hemp act, P.L. 2025, chapter 215.

That's enacted state law. Here's the sentence that sets your deadline, from Section 11 as amended:

"...may sell intoxicating hemp beverages until November 13, 2026, after which date, the holder shall be subject to the penalties and prohibitions established in section 8 of P.L.2025, c.215."

That covers plenary wholesale and retail distribution licensees, certain plenary retail consumption licensees, and anyone licensed by the Cannabis Regulatory Commission. Section 12 of the same act says that on or after November 13, selling, offering or distributing an intoxicating hemp beverage by anybody is subject to the Section 8 penalties.

Section 8 is not a slap on the wrist. It treats the sale like the marijuana sale statute, plus civil penalties starting at $100 and climbing to $10,000 for a third violation. Each day is a separate violation.

That's the date on the books. It's the only one.

What S4635 would change

The bill is short. I read all of it.

It takes the fixed November 13 date out of three places: the beverage sale window in Section 11, the penalty trigger in Section 12, and the temporary allowance for hemp producers to move intermediate product in Section 8. In each one it substitutes a new defined term, "federal compliance date."

Then it defines the term. Here's the text:

"'Federal compliance date' means December 11, 2026, or the date upon which the federal definition of hemp ... takes effect, whichever is later. Notwithstanding the expiration, repeal, or lapse of any federal appropriation or federal continuing resolution measure, the federal compliance date shall not be earlier than December 11, 2026."

Read that twice. It does not say December 11. It says December 11 or later.

That's pending. That's a bill. It is not the law.

Read the sunset before the headline

Everybody quotes the headline: "state window extended to December 11."

Nobody quotes Section 5.

Last winter's act had a sunset clause in Section 17. It said Section 11, the beverage sale window, "shall expire upon the effective date of section 781 of Pub.L.119-37, November 13, 2026." S4635 deletes that clause entirely.

So the fixed date doesn't just slide to a new fixed date. It gets replaced with a floating one. The state window now follows whatever Congress does next. If Congress delays again, New Jersey's window runs longer without anybody voting on it. If Congress doesn't, the window ends December 11 and not a day before.

And Section 6 says the bill takes effect immediately. Not on some future date. On enactment.

Here's what that means in practice. A bill that is signed before November 13 changes your deadline. A bill that is signed after November 13 is trying to reopen a window that already closed, and nothing in the text says it reaches back. That second case is my read, not a court's. I wouldn't build a plan on it.

What the bill leaves alone

Plenty.

The April 13 ban on non-beverage hemp products over 0.4 mg of total THC per container stays. The online-sale ban stays. The vending-machine ban stays. The container limits, the certificate-of-analysis requirement and the penalty schedule stay.

It's a timing bill. It moves one clock and deletes one sunset.

It also can't move a federal clock. The federal definition of hemp changed in the 2025 spending law, P.L. 119-37, Division B, Section 781. The September continuing resolution, P.L. 119-103, Section 2019, pushed most of that to December 11. It left the non-natural cannabinoid paragraphs on their original date. I laid that split out in the signed split clock post, and the December hallway post covers what December does and doesn't do.

One detail I like. The bill's definition names the exact paragraphs of Section 781 it follows, and it skips the two non-natural cannabinoid ones. That's my read of the text. The bill's own statement says the non-natural products become federally illegal on November 13. I read the signed federal text as November 12. Either way, it's before December 11.

If the beverage you sell isn't a naturally occurring cannabinoid, a state extension is not your friend. Ask your lawyer which bucket you're in before you assume the extension covers you.

What the agencies say

This is guidance. It is not law. It can't move a statutory date.

The Cannabis Regulatory Commission's hemp FAQ says licensed sellers may sell intoxicating hemp beverages "until November 13, 2026," and that starting November 14, a hemp beverage over 0.4 mg of total THC per container is cannabis, sold only by licensed cannabis retailers. It also describes an intoxicating hemp beverage as one produced before November 12, 2026.

The Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control's order, AO-2026-03, says the grace period ends November 13 and that beginning November 14, distribution and sale by its licensees has to stop. It also says more amendments may be needed if the law changes again.

One thing to catch. Chapter 13 itself says "until November 13" in Section 11 and "on or after November 13" in Section 12. Those two don't line up on the 13th. The agencies treat the 13th as the last day. I wouldn't test it. I'd treat the 12th as my last real sale day.

If S4635 gets signed, expect the CRC to update that FAQ and the ABC to amend the order. Until they do, they're citing November 13.

What I'd do before November 13

Don't cancel December orders. Don't confirm them either.

If you're a wholesaler, write contingent terms: delivery after November 13 happens only if a signed chapter law moves the date, and if not, the order voids without penalty either way. If you're a retailer, size November like it's the last month and treat any December sell-through as a bonus. If you're a brand, hold your lot records tight. Know the production date and certificate of analysis for every lot on every shelf, because the bill's definition moves the production-date line along with the sale date, not just the sale.

And watch one thing: the Assembly floor on October 29.

Here's why. That OLS calendar shows no other Assembly voting session until December 17. November 16 and the early December dates are quorum sessions with committees at the call of the Speaker, not scheduled floor votes. Calendars change. But on the calendar as published, October 29 is the one scheduled vote before either date.

My prediction

This is a prediction, not law.

I think the Assembly passes it on October 29. A 37-0 Senate vote, a 13-0 Assembly committee vote and a spot on the voting list don't read like a bill in trouble.

Then the clock moves to the Governor's desk. And the bill only helps you if it's signed before November 13. I think that happens, but I wouldn't bet your inventory on it. If it doesn't, you're in the November 13 world and you find out on the 14th.

I'd plan for the date on the books and treat the bill as a possible upgrade. Not the plan.

The short version

November 13 is law. December 11 is a bill. And the bill doesn't say December 11. It says December 11 or later.

Read the effective date. Read the sunset. Then read the headline.

This is not legal advice. I'm not a law firm, and nothing here replaces advice from a New Jersey attorney who knows your license and your products.

If you're tracking lots, dates and certificates of analysis across a deadline like this, that's what ThynkFlow is for: https://thynkflow.io

If you want a second set of eyes on your New Jersey timeline, you can reach me through Thynk consulting: https://www.thynk.guru/contact-us

Primary sources: S4635 on the legislature's site, A5604, the S4635 introduced text, P.L. 2026, c.13, and the CRC hemp FAQ.