| April 1977 | Berkeley passes an indoor air ordinance. |
| November 1978 | Proposition 5 (statewide initiative covering clean indoor air and Research Accounts until 1996, passes. SB 493 sought to issues) is defeated. |
| November 1980 | Proposition 10 (statewide initiative covering clean indoor air issues) is defeated. |
| December 1980 | Californians for Nonsmokers' Rights forms to pass local clean indoor air ordinances. |
| November 1983 | Proposition P (San Francisco referendum) is defeated; smoke-free workplace law remains on the books. |
| November | 1988 Proposition 99 (statewide initiative) passes. |
| October 1989 | Deukmejian signs AB 75 (Health Education Account) and SB 1613 (Research Account), the first pieces of implementing legislation for Proposition 99. |
| April 1990 | First California media campaign is launched. |
| June 1990 | Lodi becomes the first city with restaurants 100% smokefree. |
| August 1990 | San Luis Obispo becomes the first city with smoke-free bars. |
| May 1991 | Molly Joel Coye replaces Ken Kizer as director of DHS. |
| July 1991 | AB 99 passes, authorizing the Health Education Account until 1994. |
| January 1992 | Governor Wilson attempts to shut down the media campaign. |
| April 1992 | ALA sues to restore the media campaign. |
| June 1992 | Sacramento voters pass Measure G, mandating smoke-free worksites, including restaurants. |
| December 1993 | Governor Wilson vetoes bill reauthorizing the Research Account. |
| March 1994 | ANR and just Say No to Tobacco Dough file suit against diversions in AB 75 and AB 99. |
| July 1994 | AB 13 passes, requiring 100% smoke-free workplaces on January 1, 1995; bars are given until January 1, 1997, to be smoke free (Legislature later extends date for bars to January 1, 1998). |
| July 1994 | AB 816 passes, authorizing expenditures in the Health Education and Research Accounts until 1996 and increasing diversion of money from these accounts to medical services. |
| August 1994 | ANR files suit against AB 816. |
| September 1994 | ALA and ACS file suit against AB 8 16. |
| November 1994 | Philip Morris initiative, Proposition 188, is defeated. |
| December 1994 | Superior Court finds AB 816 illegal. |
| January 1995 | Workplaces are required to be smoke free under AB 13. |
| July 1995 | SB 493, authorizing expenditures in the Health Education and Research Accounts until 1996, passes. SB 493 sought to resolve legal problems with AB 816. |
| July 1995 | ANR and ALA, ACS, and AHA file suits against SB 493. |
| September 1995 | Court issues a preliminary injunction against SB 493. |
| July 1996 | Budget passes with full funding restored to the Health Education and Research Accounts. |
| January 1998 | California bars become smoke free. |
| July 1998 | Appellate Court rules unanimously that local ordinances are not preempted by either state or federal law. |
