The Massachusetts Legislature has approved $300,000 for the roll-out of the state’s adult-use cannabis program; however, according to the Springfield Republican report, the money was put in an executive fund run by the Executive Office of Administration and Finance, rather than under Treasurer Deborah Goldberg – who is tasked with creating and supervising the Cannabis Control Commission.
According one of Goldberg’s aides, she cannot spend the money until it is released from Administration and Finance, meaning the program’s implementation will be delayed until the treasurer’s office receives the funds.
“This funding is critical to the continued and timely implementation of Question 4,” Goldberg wrote in a letter to Secretary of Administration and Finance Kristen Lepore requesting the funds’ transfer to a reserve account in her office for the Cannabis Control Commission. “Without sufficient resources, I am concerned that the Commonwealth may not be able to meet the various extended deadlines required by (state law).”
Sarah Finlaw, a spokeswoman for the Executive Office for the Administration and Finance Department, said the agency is “going to work with the treasurer’s office and transfer the funds over to them.”
The funds were included in a supplemental budget signed by Gov. Charlie Baker yesterday.
On Monday, the Massachusetts Department of Revenue released an analysis estimating that the legal cannabis market in the state could reap $64 million in state tax revenues in its first year. Sales are expected to begin on July 1, 2018.
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