California Assembly Votes Unanimously to Block Cannabis Tax Hike

The California Assembly voted unanimously (74-0) on Monday to advance a bill blocking a nearly 25% tax hike on the state’s legal cannabis industry that is set to take effect July 1, CBS News reports. The bill, AB564, moves next to the Senate for consideration.

The proposal was introduced by Assemblymember Matt Haney (D), who noted that “If we continue to pile on more taxes and fees onto our struggling small cannabis businesses, California’s cannabis culture is under serious threat of extinction.”

“If we want to support our cannabis industry that drives millions of visitors to California every year, adding more costs makes absolutely no sense.” — Haney, in a statement, via CBS News

The anticipated tax hike — announced earlier this year by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration — is attached to a 2022 law that removed a blanket cultivation tax but included rules to raise the tax rate if the state’s cannabis revenues start to fall, which they have.

Meanwhile, the legal cannabis market continues to struggle against strict regulations, competition from unlicensed retailers, and already high taxes.

“Nearly a decade after Californians overwhelmingly approved cannabis legalization, the industry is struggling under the crushing weight of a 15% excise tax,” Caren Woodson, president of the California Cannabis Industry Association, said in the report. “Any increase, particularly a 25% increase, would not only be bad public policy, but devastating to operators already on the brink.”