The governor of Colorado says his state should be at the “center” of the national and global marijuana trade once broad prohibition is lifted—and in the meantime he’s proposing new cannabis tax revenue distributions at the state level to further promote equity and streamline licensing as he pushes for federal reform.
Gov. Jared Polis (D) spoke about his newly released budget proposal in an interview on VS Strategies’s “Weed Wonks” podcast on Thursday, highlighting new ways he’s asking the legislature to appropriate millions of dollars in marijuana tax dollars for workforce development, licensing and industry investment in lower-income areas.
In his budget, unveiled on Wednesday, Polis is calling for $5 million in marijuana revenue to support the state Office of Economic Development and International Trade’s Cannabis Business Office, which focuses on economic development and job growth within the industry. He also wants $3 million allocated for licensing as well as a policy change to allow marijuana businesses located in economically distressed “enterprise zones” to take tax credits that are available to other traditional industries.
Under the proposal, the Cannabis Business Office would receive funding “in perpetuity,” Polis said, rather than rely on the one-time infusion it received in 2021. “We
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