Joint Budget Committee votes to draft bill reclaiming local share of marijuana tax cash fund

The Joint Budget Committee voted to draft legislation that would eliminate the current 3.5% local distribution from the marijuana tax cash fund and redirect those dollars into the marijuana tax cash fund, with any year‑end surplus above the statutory reserve intended for the state’s school funding accounts.

John Cabot, JBC staff, walked members through a solvency briefing that showed the marijuana tax cash fund (MTCF) fell from a peak near $202 million in earlier years to roughly $129–137 million depending on forecasting methodology. Cabot said the two official forecasts—OSPB and LCS—differed by about $13.5 million cumulatively and noted recent downward pressure on prices and employment in the industry. “If you look at those forecasts, you are currently, according to the OSPB forecast, that you balance to your imbalance,” Cabot told the committee, and he cautioned that the forecasts remain risky and volatile.

Several members said they were not willing to rely on the more optimistic forecast. Senator Kirkmeyer urged caution, saying past forecasts had tended to overstate available revenue. Vice Chair Bridges said he was “disinclined to take the OSPB forecast” and that LCS historically had been more accurate.

Committee discussion focused on one straightforward option: rescind the local share (3.5%) and keep that money in the state fund, where the legislature can appropriate it. Representative Taggart said redirecting the allocation would produce an immediate improvement in the fund balance and floated using part of the recovered dollars for screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment programs; others suggested routing excess to the State Public School Fund or State Public School Fund alternatives to avoid short‑term volatility in K‑12 forecasting.

The committee voted to draft the bill and to direct staff to prepare language that would: (1) eliminate the 3.5% local distribution; (2) direct those dollars into the marijuana tax cash fund; and (3) include contingent direction for any year‑end amounts above the statutory reserve to flow to school funding (with details to be decided during drafting). Committee members emphasized the contingency nature of any additional allocations and the risk of basing appropriations on optimistic projections.

Next steps: staff will draft the bill for committee review and return with fiscal estimates tied to both official forecasts. The committee did not adopt final appropriations in this session; members stressed that any new spending from recovered dollars would be considered after more conservative forecasting and with explicit guardrails.