Cannabis Control Board asks Appropriations Committee for supplemental funds to finish state reference lab

The Cannabis Control Board told the Appropriations Committee that it has advanced construction, hiring and equipment procurement for a state cannabis reference laboratory but now needs a supplemental budget adjustment after an administrative accounting reversal moved earlier authorizations into the general fund.

Olga Fitch, the CCB’s executive director, traced the lab timeline: the legislature authorized funds for a reference lab under Act 83 (2022), the CCB procured equipment and identified vendors in 2023, but a lab location and flood-related delays prevented immediate installation. Fitch said the board secured a Colchester site in January, signed a 10‑year lease, hired a lab director in June, rebid and requisitioned equipment over the summer, and began receiving equipment by October.

Fitch said the agency believed previously allocated funds remained available but was later told those funds had been reported to the general fund at fiscal‑year close. "Financing management was fully supportive of our request," she told the committee, and the board submitted a new VA (budget adjustment) request to restore the lab appropriation. The transcript records the board saying, "The totals came up to 6.31 50," wording that is unclear in the record; Fitch also said the CCB has spent or invoiced about $580,000 and has roughly $60,000 in outstanding quotes, and that without the requested funds the agency would be approximately $630,000 short.

Fitch stressed operational reasons for an in‑state lab: it would support regulatory compliance and enforcement testing (rather than relying solely on private labs) and could enable additional compliance, research and public‑health testing the board now cannot perform directly. She summarized enforcement activity that the lab will support: CCB staff received 442 complaints, opened 162 formal investigations, issued 105 letters of warning and 51 notices of violation that carry administrative penalties or suspensions.

The presentation also covered market and licensing trends. Fitch cited Joint Fiscal Office projections that taxable sales for the fiscal year would be roughly $158,000,000 and that excise tax collections would be just over $22,000,000; she said CCB actuals for the first months of the fiscal year are tracking with projections. Fitch reported 25 medical locations (three standalone dispensaries and 22 medically endorsed retailers) and said product registrations rose from about 4,600 in 2024 to just over 5,000 so far in 2025.

Committee members asked about contracts, vendor payments and timeline. Fitch said most equipment is installed, vendors have been paid or invoiced for much of the work, and projected the lab could be operational by June if funding is secured. Finance and management reportedly supported the request and the board provided line‑item cost inventories to justify the VA submission. The committee discussion included questions about how an allocated appropriation could have been reported to the general fund and whether additional oversight or an auditor review should occur.

No committee vote or formal outcome on the VA request was recorded in the transcript.