Minnesota lawmakers have finalized a marijuana legalization bill in conference committee, reaching an agreement on tax and appropriations provisions in the last of three meetings to resolve differences between cannabis reform measures that passed the House and Senate last month. The final bill will now head to floor votes in both chambers this week and, if approved there, to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.
Bicameral negotiators appointed to the conference committee had already tackled the bulk of the legislation in their previous two meetings, adopting agreed-upon articles that also dealt with major issues like local control and possession limits. Now the panel has produced a final product after accepting provisions on the tax rate for cannabis and appropriating revenue.
Negotiators agreed to tax cannabis sales at the rate of 10 percent, in line with provisions approved by the Senate. The House had voted to apply an eight percent tax on sales that would later be adjusted every two years so that revenues equalled, or did not significantly exceed, the costs of implementing legalization incurred by various agencies.
Under the bicameral deal, 80 percent of revenue will go into state coffers and 20 percent will be directed to
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