BILL NUMBER: S8264

SPONSOR: HINCHEY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the state finance law, in relation to the usage of funds
in the New York state cannabis revenue fund

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To authorize the NYS Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) to pay for
costs of industry implementation of track and tracing programs.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends state finance law to authorize OCM to pay for the cost
of implementing track and trace programs.

Section 2 is the effective date

 
JUSTIFICATION:
              

New York's cannabis program requires effective "seed to sale" tracking
to ensure quality of product and prevent diversion. Unfortunately,
compliance with this requirement can run thousands of dollars a year for
cannabis industry professionals, burdening their businesses. These costs
include not only base software requirements but additional fees for
"tags" for the cultivation or processing of additional product.

The current State Finance Law Cannabis Revenue Fund already allows the
spending of collected funds for certain purposes including "implement-
ing, administering, and enforcing" the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation
Act. This bill would specifically authorize OCM to use its collected
funds (such as from taxes or other fees) to pay the costs for track and
trace systems, in order to assist our cannabis industry with the high
cost of compliance with this mandate.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

OCM is already authorized to cover "reasonable costs" incurred by it and
the Cannabis Control Board for implementing MRTA, and therefore could
utilize existing resources such as taxes or fees already collected or to
be collected.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately