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Committee backs temporary freeze on planned cannabis excise increase in AB 564
Summary
The committee voted to pass AB 564, which would keep the cannabis excise tax at 15% for a multiyear period rather than letting a recently scheduled 25% increase take effect; supporters said the pause will stabilize the licensed market, opponents said it will cut funds for youth, environment and enforcement.
Assemblymember Haney presented AB 564 to the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee and said the bill would "provide tax relief to California's struggling cannabis industry by reversing an unprecedented 25% excise tax increase." Haney told the committee the goal is to delay an increase that she and supporters say will force more legal retailers and suppliers to close and push consumers to the illicit market.
Supporters included cannabis business owners, labor and equity operators who described closures, rising rents and uninsured losses. Camille Ferguson, owner of several cannabis businesses, told the committee her dispensary was burglarized twice in six months and cited high rents and insurance problems; she said a 25% excise increase would…
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