Bill would extend sales-tax exemption to registered cannabis nurseries; a patient and caregiver urged legislature to require licensing instead

The Comptroller's Office told the Ways and Means Committee on Feb. 6 that House Bill 619 would correct an oversight in the Cannabis Reform Act by extending a sales-and-use tax exemption that already covers sales between licensed cannabis businesses to also include sales between a registered cannabis nursery and a licensed cannabis business.

Matt Dudzik of the Comptroller's Office explained that the original statutory exemption applied to transfers among licensed businesses, and that cannabis nurseries were later created under a registration model rather than a licensing model. Because the existing exemption language references "licensed" businesses, it does not apply to transfers involving a registered nursery. HB 619 would explicitly include registered nurseries so that business-to-business sales for resale are exempt as intended, Dudzik said.

A member of the public, Rusty (listed in the transcript as "Rusty Carr"), testified in opposition to the registration approach for nurseries. He told the committee he was not aware nurseries would be created by registration, objected to that regulatory path and asked the legislature to require a license so the public could provide input. He also described confusion and overlap between hemp and cannabis law and urged the committee to seek clearer statutory structure.

Dudzik said the omission appeared to be an oversight and that Comptroller staff had discussed the matter with stakeholders and sponsors. No formal vote was taken at the hearing; the Comptroller's Office requested a favorable report on HB 619.