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Assembly committee pauses bill to freeze cannabis excise tax after contested hearing
Summary
The California Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee referred AB 564 — which would freeze the cannabis excise tax at its current rate — to the suspense file after a lengthy hearing featuring industry, labor and environmental witnesses on both sides.
Assemblymember Haney introduced AB 564, which would freeze the state cannabis excise tax at its current rate rather than allow a scheduled 25% increase, during the Revenue and Taxation Committee hearing on Oct. 26, 2025. The committee then referred the bill to the suspense file for further review.
AB 564’s author framed the bill as temporary “tax relief to California's struggling cannabis industry by freezing an unprecedented 25% excise tax increase.” He said the bill “simply freeze[s] the tax at its current rate. It does not decrease the existing tax and will not reduce the revenue generated by this tax.”
The bill drew extensive public testimony from industry groups, labor unions and patient and equity advocates who said the legal market is losing ground to untaxed illicit…
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