Marijuana Moment
The California Assembly has unanimously approved a bill to delay the implementation of an planned hike on marijuana taxes.
About a month after state officials announced that the cannabis excise tax rate would increase from 15 percent to 19 percent on July 1, the Assembly voted 74-0 to pass legislation from Assemblymember Matt Haney (D) to delay the change for five years.
The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration, but advocates are hoping to see its language incorporated into a separate budget trailer measure that would take effect upon enactment—as opposed to at the beginning of next year as would be the case under Haney’s bill.
While the legislation as introduced would have outright repealed the proposed tax hike, it’s since been amended to delay its implementation until the 2030-2031 fiscal year.
The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) officials applauded the Assembly’s vote.
Joe Duffle, president of UFCW Local 1167, said raising the tax rate would “only increase the number of failed legal cannabis businesses” in the state.
“AB 564 freezes the cannabis excise tax at 15 percent and gives legal cannabis businesses a fighting chance to stay afloat in an industry that is contracting every day,” he said. “Without this bill, the illicit cannabis industry will only flourish more and keep putting untested, untaxed and unregulated cannabis products into the hands of consumers.”
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