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Law Montana

Montana GOP Lawmaker Wants To Eliminate Recreational Dispensaries

Montana voted to legalize in 2020.

More than two years after voters approved a measure legalizing recreational cannabis, and more than a year after the launch of the state’s regulated marijuana market, a Montana lawmaker wants to undo all of that.

Last week, Republican state Sen. Keith Regier introduced a bill that includes a slate of reforms to Montana’s cannabis policy, most notably “eliminating adult-use dispensaries.”

According to Montana Free Press, the bill “additionally raises the state tax on medical marijuana from 4% to 20% and puts significant limits on medical marijuana potency and allowable amounts for possession,” and although it would once again prohibit recreational cannabis, it would not “re-criminalize marijuana possession for adults.”

Regier’s bill states plainly its objective: “reduce the demand for marijuana sales.”

Montana Free Press has more background on the proposal:

“If passed into law, the bill would drastically reduce the potential consumer base for existing marijuana businesses and eliminate a significant source of revenue for state coffers. Since adult-use sales began in January 2022, Montana has generated $54 million in tax revenue from the industry. Less than one-tenth of that revenue came from medical marijuana taxes. Currently, recreational customers pay a 20% tax to the state; some counties add an additional 3% local tax.

The outlet reported that the bill will be the subject of a hearing on Wednesday in the Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee.

Nearly 57% of Montana voters approved Initiative 190 in 2020, which legalized marijuana for adults aged 21 and older, and also laid the groundwork for cannabis sales to be taxed.

Recreational cannabis sales launched last year, bringing in more than $200 million to the state in 2022.

According to the state, recreational marijuana sales amounted to $202,947,328 in 2022, while medical cannabis sales totaled $93,616,551. (Voters in Montana legalized medical marijuana treatment in 2004.)

The two combined to generate a grand total of $303,563,879 in marijuana sales last year.

Montana generated $41,989,466 in tax revenue off recreational pot sales, according to the Department of Revenue, and $3,744,662 in taxes from medical cannabis sales. Combined, the state pulled in $45,734,128 in tax revenue from marijuana sales in 2022.

Marijuana reform has been a hot topic in Montana’s legislative session this year.

Earlier this month, the Business and Labor Committee “heard testimony on two marijuana-related bills,” according to local news station KTVH –– one of which “would prohibit marijuana businesses in Montana from promoting their business or brand in print, over TV and radio or using a billboard,” while the other “would revise the required warning labels that marijuana businesses must put on their products, to say that marijuana use during pregnancy could result in ‘congenital anomalies, and inherited cancers developed by a child later in life.’”

The station reported that the proposed ban on advertising “drew opposition from marijuana businesses and from the Montana Newspaper Association,” with opponents saying that “most people in the industry have gone to great lengths to make sure their advertising follows the current rules, and most of the issues people are concerned about have come from a few bad actors.”

here have been debates over other cannabis bills, too, including one that “would require marijuana growers and manufacturers of marijuana products to install air filtration systems to address concerns about odor,” according to KTVH, as well as several proposed bills to change how the state distributes the marijuana tax revenue.

“In particular, they propose removing a section in state law that directs a percentage of taxes from marijuana sales toward Habitat Montana – a program that uses state funds for wildlife habitat conservation projects. Gov. Greg Gianforte has said the program has more than enough funding and no longer needs the marijuana revenue,” the station reported.
 
well, sanity won out...that and self-preservation. Yeah...some legislators overturning a direct referendum by the electorate....that wouldn't get them kicked to the curb, now would it? hahaha Assholes all of them.

Montana Senators Kill Bill To Eliminate Recreational Marijuana Dispensaries And Limit THC Potency


On Thursday, one day after an impassioned hearing on Senate Bill 546, the Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee voted 6-4 to table the bill.

SB 546, sponsored by Sen. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, would have dramatically altered and essentially dismantled the state’s marijuana industry. It primarily sought to eliminate all adult-use dispensaries in Montana. Furthermore, it would have raised the state tax on medical marijuana from 4 percent to 20 percent and put significant limits on medical marijuana potency and allowable amounts for possession. While the bill prohibited non-medical marijuana sales, it did not re-criminalize marijuana possession for adults. It also halved the number of plants an adult can grow at home from two mature plants to one.


On Thursday, three Republican committee members—Senate President Jason Ellsworth, Committee Chair Jason Small and Sen. Walt Sales—joined with all three Democratic members to oppose the bill. The committee subsequently tabled the bill unanimously.

During Wednesday’s hearing and Thursday’s committee meeting, proponents of the bill highlighted their concerns with marijuana potency and youth access.

SB 546 would have lowered the allowable amount of the active compound THC from 35 percent to 10 percent in medical marijuana flower, and banned medical marijuana concentrates containing more than 10 percent THC.

Dr. Kevin Sabet, co-founder and president of the national anti-marijuana organization Safe Approaches to Marijuana, expressed particular concern about the strength of marijuana concentrates, which often contain roughly 90 percent THC. Montana law does not currently include a cap on potency for marijuana concentrate products.


“There is no need to have 90 percent potent marijuana products unless you’re trying to addict kids,” Sabet said. “That’s simply the only reason to do it. Or addict people in the workplace and cause crashes on the road,” he told the committee

Opponents of the bill emphasized that voters sent a message to lawmakers in 2020 when they passed the legalization initiative I-190 by a margin of 57-43.

“I’m really nervous about undoing the people’s will. That really concerns me,” Sen. Willis Curdy, D-Missoula, said during Thursday’s committee meeting.

“I just think it’s good not to make voters think that their voice doesn’t count. Then they really turn away from this whole process,” Kate Cholewa of the Montana Cannabis Industry Association said during Wednesday’s hearing.


Regier acknowledged that concern during his opening remarks on the bill.


“There have been several examples of the will of the voters being reversed,” he noted. Two of the three examples he cited involved voter initiatives being overturned by courts, not lawmakers.

Opponents additionally argued that SB 546 would have eliminated hundreds of industry jobs, enabled an illicit market and denied the state millions of dollars in tax revenue.

During Thursday’s vote, committee chairman Small acknowledged that he supports parts of the bill, but said it presents too heavy a lift this late in the session.

“There’s some good stuff in here, but it would take a considerable amount of time to get this thing whipped into shape. We can take some of these ideas and still be able to move them along,” he said.
 
Montana Judge Rules Legislature Must Be Given Chance To Override Governor’s Veto Of Marijuana Revenue Bill


“It’s a bipartisan bill that supports Montana values and benefits Montanans all across our great state.”
By Darrell Ehrlick, Daily Montanan
The Montana governor has the power to veto legislation, and the Montana Legislature has the power to override those vetoes, things that a Lewis and Clark County district court judge said are not ambiguous.
And even though a small gap could be created by the timing of the veto or when the Legislature adjourns, Judge Mike Menahan said the Constitution’s framers were clear that both branches should be able to equally exercise their powers.
In a ruling handed down on Tuesday, Menahan said that Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) must transmit his veto of Senate Bill 442 to Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen (R), and that she must poll lawmakers to see if they wish to override Gianforte’s veto of a bill that would redistribute revenues from recreational marijuana toward conservation efforts and county road improvement.
The final version of SB 442 would distribute 20 percent of the money toward county road construction and maintenance and 20 percent to a Habitat Legacy Fund, two of the key components of the bill for the plaintiffs.
On final passage, a total of 131 of 150 lawmakers supported the bill, but some top Republican senators had noted in the days leading up to its passage that the governor was unhappy with the bill and would likely veto it. Gianforte’s administration had supported different bills that sought to distribute more of the money to law enforcement and the general fund.
It would take two-thirds of the Legislature, or 100 votes, to override a veto.
Representatives from the governor’s office were not immediately available for comment when the decision was released late on Tuesday afternoon.
“We will review the decision and determine the next steps as our commitment is to serve Montana and faithfully execute the laws,” said secretary of state spokesman Richie Melby.
Wild Montana, Montana Wildlife Federation and the Montana Association of Counties banded together to file the lawsuits which centered on the exact timing of Gianforte’s veto as well as the time the Senate adjourned for the 2023 session.
The process to override a veto changes based upon whether the Legislature is in session or is adjourned. In this case, Gianforte issued a veto of SB 442 at approximately the same time the Senate was adjourning. However, the Montana House continued on, raising a question of whether the Legislature was truly in session.
Gianforte said that he transmitted the veto to the Senate, but it had adjourned. Jacobsen said that she lacked the authority to poll via mail because the Legislature because it was still in session when the veto was signed.
Attorneys for the groups challenging the veto pointed out that executives could orchestrate down-to-the-minute timing to frustrate the override process in the future if a governor were time a veto just as either chamber was adjourning, leaving lawmakers with little chance to exercise their constitutional checks and balances.
“The plain language of these two provisions appears to leave a procedural gap whereby the legislature does not have the opportunity to conduct a vote to override a governor’s veto if it does not receive timely notice of a veto prior to adjournment,” Menahan described in his nine-page ruling
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. “This creates a situation in which the legislature is deprived of a constitutionally delegated authority on the basis of a procedural anomaly.”
“…Although subject to different procedures, the framers [of the Montana Constitution] clearly intended the legislature’s veto power to exist regardless of the timing of the veto.”
Menahan ruled that the only question the constitution left vague was which procedure should be used.
“The determinative factor must be when the legislature receives the veto message rather than when the governor signs the veto,” Menahan said. “This interpretation clarifies the constitutionally established procedures while ensuring each coequal branch of government retains the ability to exercise its proper authority.”
Menahan issued a writ of mandamus, or an order commanding Gianforte to send the veto to Jacobsen who then will poll lawmakers. That poll could take place, or the decision could be appealed to the Montana Supreme Court, in which case the order would likely be stayed pending a final decision there.
Lawmakers and outdoor advocates were quick to cheer the news.
“I’m glad SB 442 has been restored to its proper legal status. It’s a bipartisan bill that supports Montana values and benefits Montanans all across our great state, and I encourage the Secretary of State to issue the veto override poll ASAP,” said Sen. Mike Lang (R-Malta), the sponsor of the bipartisan measure. “This is the same bill 130 legislators supported during the session, and I’m looking forward to working with my colleagues to secure historic investments in rural infrastructure, agricultural communities, veteran’s services and our drug abuse epidemic.”
Ross Butcher, Fergus County Commissioner and Montana Association of Counties President, said that if lawmakers override Gianforte’s veto, it will help with much-needed infrastructure improvement.
“A lot of Fergus County’s 1,700-plus miles of roads are falling apart due to the extraordinary traffic impact caused by out-of-area recreationists outpacing the local ability to keep them up within our regular maintenance schedules,” Butcher said. “This makes it tough for recreationists, citizens and ag producers. The story’s the same across the state—most counties don’t have wiggle room in their budgets, and this SB 442 investment will go a long way.”
For wildlife and conservation advocates, the possibility of Senate Bill 442 becoming law means a huge investment in the state’s outdoors.
“SB 442 will be transformative for Montanans by improving wildlife and landscapes while supporting veterans and rural communities. It’s poised to be the largest investment in Montana’s wildlife habitat in over four decades, and we’re eager to work with our partners in the legislature to make it law,” said Frank Szollosi, executive director of the Montana Wildlife Federation.
 

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