Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
Massachusetts marijuana advocates were enraged on Wednesday, saying taxes on Bay State marijuana could skyrocket to 56 percent under a State House plan to overhaul the legalization law approved by voters.
Hours later, state House Speaker Robert DeLeo said lawmakers will not vote on the bill on Thursday as originally planned. "But it will be taken up soon," he told reporters, adding he hopes to get a final version of the bill to Gov. Charlie Baker's desk on before July.
That means the proposed re-write of the pot law is getting its own re-write.
The move to yank the bill from consideration underscores the complexity lawmakers face in crafting legislation that deals with a substance still illegal at the federal level and touches on healthcare and criminal justice issues.
Voters in November signed off on a law broadly legalizing recreational marijuana use for adults age 21 and over. The law, written by legalization advocates aiming to tamp down the black market, included a total tax rate of 12 percent.
Massachusetts House members say their overhaul proposal, written behind closed doors, was meant to implement a 28 percent total tax rate.
But legalization advocates said the tax in the overhaul proposal, as written, would actually mean a 56 percent rate.
Legalization advocates say their interpretation of the proposal puts the effective tax rate at 56 percent, because the tax is compounded. It includes 21.75 percent from wholesaler to retailer, and 28 percent from retailer to customer.
The House bill was written in a "rapid and sloppy" manner, said Jim Borghesani, spokesman for the "Yes on 4," the ballot question campaign group behind the voter-approved law.
"It's very, very dangerous because it encourages the illicit market, the very thing voters decided in November they didn't want to see anymore," he told reporters. "They wanted to take marijuana commerce away from the illicit market, put it in the hands of regulated, tax-paying businesses. What this House version does is pretty much give the industry back to the drug dealers."
Marijuana advocates have argued there shouldn't be any changes to the voter-approved law until the new industry gets up and running in Massachusetts.
The House proposal encountered turbulence as it emerged out of the Legislature's Marijuana Policy Committee on Wednesday morning.
The bill cleared the committee with 10 votes from the House side, but the chair of the Senate side blasted the proposal.
"I would like to say this proposed bill directly assaults the will of the voters and is a prescription for increasing the illicit market," state Sen. Patricia Jehlen, D-Somerville, said.
Jehlen said she'd had less than 18 hours to review the bill.
The proposed tax rate will be highest in the country, she added, a remark that prompted the House chair of the committee, Braintree's Mark Cusack, to shake his head and purse his lips.
"We have a law," Jehlen continued. "It was passed by the voters. In most cities and towns in the state, it passed. This is the law. In my view, the existing law is preferable to this proposed bill."
Speaking to reporters after House Democrats met in a caucus on Wednesday evening, Cusack said lawmakers will work to fix the House bill. He defended the legislative process, saying it hasn't been secretive.
"Anything in this bill should not be a surprise for anyone who has actually been focused on this issue," Cusack said, pointing to the committee holding five hearings, including in West Springfield and Shrewsbury.
"As I've said from the beginning: My goal here is to get this right for the commonwealth and the people and the industry, frankly," he said.
During the Marijuana Policy Committee meeting at the State House on Wednesday morning, Rep. Aaron Vega, D-Holyoke, said he was concerned about the proposed House tax rate, and called it "detrimental."
The House proposal's plan to give municipal leaders, like city councils and other local governing bodies, the right to ban pot instead of a voter referendum, as laid out in current law, is the "wrong direction," Vega added.
He voted for the bill to clear the committee, but cautioned he would not hesitate to vote against it on the House floor.
Rep. John Velis, D-Westfield, also voted for the bill.
Senate members of the committee, including Sen. James Welch, D-West Springfield, declined to vote for or against the bill.
Senators could craft their own version of a re-write, meaning a small team of House-Senate negotiators would then have to come together and hammer out a compromise bill to send to the governor's desk.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Massachusetts marijuana tax could hit 56 percent, legalization proponents argue as state lawmakers struggle with overhaul bill | masslive.com
Author: Gintautas Dumcius
Contact: Contact Us - MassLive Media Solutions
Photo Credit: Thinkstock
Website: Massachusetts Local News, Breaking News, Sports and Weather - MassLive.com
Hours later, state House Speaker Robert DeLeo said lawmakers will not vote on the bill on Thursday as originally planned. "But it will be taken up soon," he told reporters, adding he hopes to get a final version of the bill to Gov. Charlie Baker's desk on before July.
That means the proposed re-write of the pot law is getting its own re-write.
The move to yank the bill from consideration underscores the complexity lawmakers face in crafting legislation that deals with a substance still illegal at the federal level and touches on healthcare and criminal justice issues.
Voters in November signed off on a law broadly legalizing recreational marijuana use for adults age 21 and over. The law, written by legalization advocates aiming to tamp down the black market, included a total tax rate of 12 percent.
Massachusetts House members say their overhaul proposal, written behind closed doors, was meant to implement a 28 percent total tax rate.
But legalization advocates said the tax in the overhaul proposal, as written, would actually mean a 56 percent rate.
Legalization advocates say their interpretation of the proposal puts the effective tax rate at 56 percent, because the tax is compounded. It includes 21.75 percent from wholesaler to retailer, and 28 percent from retailer to customer.
The House bill was written in a "rapid and sloppy" manner, said Jim Borghesani, spokesman for the "Yes on 4," the ballot question campaign group behind the voter-approved law.
"It's very, very dangerous because it encourages the illicit market, the very thing voters decided in November they didn't want to see anymore," he told reporters. "They wanted to take marijuana commerce away from the illicit market, put it in the hands of regulated, tax-paying businesses. What this House version does is pretty much give the industry back to the drug dealers."
Marijuana advocates have argued there shouldn't be any changes to the voter-approved law until the new industry gets up and running in Massachusetts.
The House proposal encountered turbulence as it emerged out of the Legislature's Marijuana Policy Committee on Wednesday morning.
The bill cleared the committee with 10 votes from the House side, but the chair of the Senate side blasted the proposal.
"I would like to say this proposed bill directly assaults the will of the voters and is a prescription for increasing the illicit market," state Sen. Patricia Jehlen, D-Somerville, said.
Jehlen said she'd had less than 18 hours to review the bill.
The proposed tax rate will be highest in the country, she added, a remark that prompted the House chair of the committee, Braintree's Mark Cusack, to shake his head and purse his lips.
"We have a law," Jehlen continued. "It was passed by the voters. In most cities and towns in the state, it passed. This is the law. In my view, the existing law is preferable to this proposed bill."
Speaking to reporters after House Democrats met in a caucus on Wednesday evening, Cusack said lawmakers will work to fix the House bill. He defended the legislative process, saying it hasn't been secretive.
"Anything in this bill should not be a surprise for anyone who has actually been focused on this issue," Cusack said, pointing to the committee holding five hearings, including in West Springfield and Shrewsbury.
"As I've said from the beginning: My goal here is to get this right for the commonwealth and the people and the industry, frankly," he said.
During the Marijuana Policy Committee meeting at the State House on Wednesday morning, Rep. Aaron Vega, D-Holyoke, said he was concerned about the proposed House tax rate, and called it "detrimental."
The House proposal's plan to give municipal leaders, like city councils and other local governing bodies, the right to ban pot instead of a voter referendum, as laid out in current law, is the "wrong direction," Vega added.
He voted for the bill to clear the committee, but cautioned he would not hesitate to vote against it on the House floor.
Rep. John Velis, D-Westfield, also voted for the bill.
Senate members of the committee, including Sen. James Welch, D-West Springfield, declined to vote for or against the bill.
Senators could craft their own version of a re-write, meaning a small team of House-Senate negotiators would then have to come together and hammer out a compromise bill to send to the governor's desk.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Massachusetts marijuana tax could hit 56 percent, legalization proponents argue as state lawmakers struggle with overhaul bill | masslive.com
Author: Gintautas Dumcius
Contact: Contact Us - MassLive Media Solutions
Photo Credit: Thinkstock
Website: Massachusetts Local News, Breaking News, Sports and Weather - MassLive.com
