Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget And Staffing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
OLCC outlines staff realignment, marijuana staffing request and potential reductions tied to budgets
Summary
OLCC presented a no-cost organizational realignment, a request for marijuana-specific staffing and vehicles, and a set of reduction options the agency would use if a 10% cut is required, including agent compensation and program reductions.
During the Feb. 4 budget hearing, OLCC described a requested organizational realignment, a marijuana staffing package and a set of potential reductions the agency prepared for budget stress scenarios.
Organizational realignment and cost allocation
OLCC presented Policy Option Package (POP) 106, a no-cost staff realignment that moves the agency from a two-deputy structure to a single-deputy model. Craig Prins said Tara Waziak would serve as the agency’s chief operating officer in the new structure and that the reorganization shifts some policy-development staff to operational support as the agency moves from policy creation to implementation. The agency also described updates to its cost-allocation formula to more accurately attribute administrative hearings and other shared costs to the recreational marijuana fund rather than alcohol accounts.
Marijuana staffing and vehicles
OLCC requested $1.6 million in POP for marijuana staffing, including $700,000 in personal services to create two director-level positions (a marijuana compliance and regulatory director and a marijuana licensing director) and funding for vehicle purchases and replacements for regional offices. Prins said these positions would supervise regional regulatory staff and that the vehicles reflect an ongoing need to replace older fleet vehicles.
Reduction options
Prins walked the committee through a set of analyst-driven reduction options that would equal roughly a 10% budget reduction if required. Those options included a 10% reduction to agent compensation, true-up reductions to current forecasts, and deeper measures that could reduce or eliminate some programs (agency described potential elimination of the medical marijuana division in a worst-case scenario). Prins emphasized these are contingency options and that OLCC hoped not to implement them.
Why it matters: The realignment and staffing requests affect OLCC's regulatory capacity; the reduction options clarify where the agency would cut if deeper budget reductions are required during the 2025–27 biennium.
