Spring is here, 4/20 is just a few weeks away and I can’t believe how quickly the first quarter of 2021 flew by! In this newsletter you’ll find testing & compliance resources from our last virtual event, a call to action for the Cannabis Equity Act, an industry sales report, and much more! Before we get into all that, our Legislative and Lobbying team has been hard at work advocating for our industry, here are some of the bills we’re tracking:
HB3112 Cannabis Equity Act: The bill had two hearings last month, the OCA testified in support, along with our members and industry coalition supporters. Additionally over 1,200 folks answered the call to sign the petition of support! The bill has a Work Session on April 8, and we need help sending letters to the legislative committee before then (see the call to action below).
HB408 Cannabis Industry Omnibus Bill: The OCA has been leading this coalition effort on this bill, along with some serious enforcement reform it includes several commonsense legislative fixes to help our businesses run more efficiently, save costs and promote sales.
HB3000: At the request of the OLCC and ODA, a new amendment has been added to this bill to address concerns over unregulated Delta 8. The bill will do the following:
• Prohibit sales of intoxicants to minors by allowing the Oregon Department of Agriculture to set potency limits for THC and artificially-derived cannabinoids.
• Expand Oregon Department of Agriculture and Oregon Liquor Control Commission authority to regulate cannabis in their markets.
• Establish a task force on Cannabis-Derived Intoxicants
The next Work Session for the bill will be this afternoon (4/1) at 3:15pm. You can find a link to watch, as well as testimony and other bill information here.
HB2015 Cannabis Sales Tax: This bill would allow cities to raise the City Sales Tax from 3% to 10%. When this bill was first heard, we came out against it strong with testimony and appeals to legislatures. It is clear to us that an increase in sales tax would result in lower sales and tax revenue to our cities, as price-sensitive cannabis customers find lower price options in other cities, states, or through the illicit market. Fortunately, no new legislative steps have been scheduled since the first hearing. However that does not mean we are out of the woods yet, if the bill moves forward we will need your help to advocate against this bill.
