Subcommittee reviews OLCC budget: new Canby warehouse, IT modernization, hemp regulation and surcharge cited as key fiscal issues

PORTLAND, Ore. — On Feb. 3 the Transportation Economic Development Subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee held an information hearing on House Bill 1519, the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission’s governor‑recommended budget, centering on a planned new distilled‑spirits warehouse in Canby, a multi‑year IT modernization, staffing needs to run both projects, and new responsibilities for regulating industrial hemp.

The budget matters because OLCC’s operations fund a large share of state and local revenue and the agency is carrying bond debt tied to warehouse and IT projects. How the commission manages the warehouse move, repays bonds and implements new hemp rules will affect distributions to the general fund, cities and counties as well as the agency’s ability to regulate alcohol and cannabis.

Craig Prince, executive director of the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, framed the presentation around the agency’s “build, move, modernize, and keep it rolling” plan and said the next biennium will be a heavy lift for staff to complete the warehouse and IT work. “We have confidence that we can do that with our strategic plan, but we need the staffing resources that are in the governor’s budget to do that work,” Prince said.

Department of Administrative Services policy and budget analyst Stacy Chase told the committee the governor’s budget funds continued work on the warehouse and the IT modernization and creates capacity for industrial hemp regulation required by House Bill…